North Saanich voters will officially head to the polls on July 8 for a byelection to fill the councillor seat left vacant after Brett Smyth resigned from his position last month.
At the April 3 regular council meeting, council unanimously approved the July 8 date after staff presented that or either Oct. 14 or 21 as potential options.
During a brief discussion over which date to select, council debated whether an early summer or late fall election date would disadvantage certain potential candidates as they would coincide with either the summer school break or return to classes and Thanksgiving holiday.
Council ultimately concluded there was no possible date which would avoid impacting some potential candidates more than others.
READ MORE: North Saanich councillor who called mayor ‘Mr. Hitler’ is now resigning
Council also asked staff if they had a preference between an early summer or late fall election date, given the extra workload it would put on them, and being careful not to speak out of turn, staff replied they would like to “get it done,” which council took to mean the earlier date was preferable.
With the byelection date now set, staff told council about the tentative timeline.
The nomination period will start on May 23 and end June 2, when whoever is appointed chief electoral officer is expected to declare the candidates.
The ballots would then be sent to the printers on June 6.
Staff told council the district’s bylaws would provide for two advanced voting days, at least one of which would be in the later half of June before school lets out, as well as mail-in voting with a deadline of around June 19.
Smyth’s letter of resignation was published by the district on March 27 with immediate effect. In his letter of resignation, Smyth only said the decision was not made lightly and was “made necessary, but not specifically,” in light of an “off-handed comment” he made at a recent council meeting, without elaborating on what that comment was.
Spats within council chambers have occurred occasionally since the Oct. 2022 municipal election, but they reached a boiling point at the March 20 regular council meeting, where after a back and forth between Smyth and Mayor Peter Jones regarding the Mayor’s Official Community Plan Advisory Committee, Smyth referred to the mayor as “Mr. Hitler.”
Smyth said in his letter he would have preferred a “more positive environment” at municipal hall, but felt not all voices were being respected. He concluded his letter by wishing mayor and council good luck moving forward “with a more collaborative and free-thinking approach that has the best interests of all residents.”
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@JSamanski
justin.samanski-langille@goldstreamgazette.com
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