Congratulations to Mayor Janet Evans, who was re-elected in a fairly close battle with Rick Kasper. Only two incumbent councillors were re-elected, Ron Dumont and Sheila Beech. Newcomers Dave Bennett, Maja Tait, Herb Haldane, and Bev Berger will join them in Sooke’s new municipal council.

Overall, I don’t think the vote could have gone much better. Political newcomer Dave Bennett got nearly 600 well-deserved votes more than his closest competitor. I’m expecting good things from him in the council chamber. I won’t go into detail on my personal opinions, bu, I believe the right people got elected and will be able to move forward with Sooke business over the next three years.

Also, Juan de Fuca Electoral Area residents have elected Mike Hicks over Ute Schnarr to the CRD board.

Here are the Sooke voting results from the CivicInfoBC Elections Site:

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

Your comments are welcomed and encouraged!
Just use the form or link below this post.

You can bookmark this post using the button below,
or get free updates using the big buttons on the sidebar!

Congratulations to Dr. Martin on being elected for a sixth term in our riding, and much respect to Mr. De Souza for being so gracious in his defeat.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

Your comments are welcomed and encouraged!
Just use the form or link below this post.

You can bookmark this post using the button below,
or get free updates using the big buttons on the sidebar!

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

Your comments are welcomed and encouraged!
Just use the form or link below this post.

You can bookmark this post using the button below,
or get free updates using the big buttons on the sidebar!

Troy De Souza

Dr. Keith Martin

UPDATE Oct 27, 2008: Keith Martin Keeps His Seat

You know it’s close when all the news coverage is over and you are still unsure of a winner. That’s exactly what happened last night in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, the federal electoral riding which covers from Port Renfrew to Sooke, into Langford, View Royal, Esquimalt, and parts of Saanich and the Highlands. It was back and forth all night, with Desouza and Martin at times ahead by margins of a few hundred votes. Just after 11:00 pm, it was reported that Martin had won by a mere 68 seats. Election rules state that a race this close is subject to an automatic recount, so technically, we still don’t know.

Congratulations to Dr. Martin and Mr. Desouza for a well-fought campaign, and good luck to the eventual winner in Ottawa – I’ll be watching.

UPDATE: It was reported this morning that Troy DeSouza will not seek a recount. Barring any unforeseen issues that come up during the validation process which is currently going on for all ballots in Canada, Dr. Keith Martin will be heading back to Ottawa on behalf of Esquimalt – Juan De Fuca.

UPDATE 2: It was reported today that Mr. DeSouza will in fact be seeking a recount. If a judge approves the request, it should be carried out by the end of next week.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

Your comments are welcomed and encouraged!
Just use the form or link below this post.

You can bookmark this post using the button below,
or get free updates using the big buttons on the sidebar!

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

Your comments are welcomed and encouraged!
Just use the form or link below this post.

You can bookmark this post using the button below,
or get free updates using the big buttons on the sidebar!

At issue is the “leaked” memo from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Office which surfaced recently and its comments about U.S. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s plans to re-negotiate NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement.) The “scandal” here is that by making these comments, Canada interfered with another sovereign state’s election process, a clear threat to democracy.

I have three four problems with this:

1. This was an internal memo that wasn’t supposed to go public. People have opinions. People with opinions sometimes work for government. Private memos between people with opinions have no place being publicized as official government position or opinion.

2. The U.S. doesn’t listen to anything we or anyone else has to say anyway, especially about their elections (and rightly so – neither would any other sovereign nation).

3. This isn’t the Presidential election. It’s the Democratic Primary. They’re determining a candidate, not a President.

4. For the love of everything good on this Earth, The Watergate scandal involving U.S. President Nixon happened over 35 years ago. Why, oh, WHY must we continue to call anything semi-scandalous that pisses people off x-gate? From Nipplegate to Skategate, it’s silly, inane, and clichéd.

I admit this post was mostly to get item number four above off my chest. I try not to get into politics too much.

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Tim Ayres

At issue is the “leaked” memo from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Office which surfaced recently and its comments about U.S. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s plans to re-negotiate NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement.) The “scandal” here is that by making these comments, Canada interfered with another sovereign state’s election process, a clear threat to democracy.

I have three four problems with this:

1. This was an internal memo that wasn’t supposed to go public. People have opinions. People with opinions sometimes work for government. Private memos between people with opinions have no place being publicized as official government position or opinion.

2. The U.S. doesn’t listen to anything we or anyone else has to say anyway, especially about their elections (and rightly so – neither would any other sovereign nation).

3. This isn’t the Presidential election. It’s the Democratic Primary. They’re determining a candidate, not a President.

4. For the love of everything good on this Earth, The Watergate scandal involving U.S. President Nixon happened over 35 years ago. Why, oh, WHY must we continue to call anything semi-scandalous that pisses people off x-gate? From Nipplegate to Skategate, it’s silly, inane, and clichéd.

I admit this post was mostly to get item number four above off my chest. I try not to get into politics too much.

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Tim Ayres