Dean Murdock went on the offensive against incumbent Fred Haynes as the two Saanich mayoral candidates faced off in a heated debate.
Haynes, who was elected mayor in 2018, defended his record and highlighted his achievements during the Oct. 6 debate hosted by CFAX. Murdock, however, painted a different picture of the incumbentB次元官网网址檚 term in office.
Murdock, a former three-term Saanich councillor and Capital Regional District director, is the lone candidate challenging Haynes in his bid for re-election this year.
While the two agreed on the necessity of more housing supply in Saanich, Murdock criticized what he called the slow pace of progress the district has made on the affordability crisis.
He added that although he was delighted to see the approval of the 73-point Saanich Housing Strategy around 18 months ago, Haynes and councillors have B次元官网网址渋mplemented exactly zero of those 73 actions over the last 18 months.B次元官网网址� Murdock even went as far as accusing Haynes of dragging his feet on the issue.
B次元官网网址淎ffordability is our greatest challenge, we canB次元官网网址檛 just talk about it,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 time for us to move beyond planning into action.B次元官网网址�
READ MORE:
Murdock said that the municipality delivered less than half of its targeted number of new homes last year, adding that council should use zoning regulations as a way to allow for construction of more affordable family homes, like townhouses, duplexes and triplexes.
Haynes agreed but cited supply chain issues, staff shortages and limited resources caused by the pandemic ultimately hindering the municipalityB次元官网网址檚 ability to meet its goal.
Haynes also noted the municipality has been active internally through efforts to create a more efficient and seamless development permit application process.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 very difficult to demand that the building industry builds the housing,B次元官网网址� Haynes said. B次元官网网址淲e have to facilitate the process.B次元官网网址�
Haynes touted the $36-million investment to transition from the districtB次元官网网址檚 old paper-based development application system to a new digital one, progress on allowing garden and secondary suites as well as a restructured planning department.
B次元官网网址淒elivering housing is a multi-faceted task,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he levers we have, in terms of cost of housing, are only on one side. There are three costs to housing: the land, the build and the processes that get the application in place.B次元官网网址�
He added that plans are currently underway to waive public hearings for development applications that fit SaanichB次元官网网址檚 official community plan.
From MurdockB次元官网网址檚 perspective, however, the work done thus far simply hasnB次元官网网址檛 been enough. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 time to shift from this continuous cycle of planning into delivering on action that creates results in our community,B次元官网网址� he said.
Saanich held advanced voting on Wednesday (Oct. 5) and will be holding advanced voting again on Oct. 11 and 12.
The general voting day for all municipal elections in B.C. is Oct. 15.
Do you have a story tip? Email: austin.westphal@saanichnews.com.
Follow us on and and like us on
