Last week, we learned that longtime Pemberton resident David MacKenzie plans to run for mayor in this fall’s municipal election, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 15.
MacKenzie is the first Pembertonian—current mayor and council included—to formally announce plans to run.
In Squamish, Mayor Karen Elliot announced on June 1 that she will not run again, while Councillors John French and Chris Pettingill are seeking re-election.
And in Whistler… all quiet on the electoral front. At least for now.
The official nomination period doesn’t begin until Aug. 30, and by the time it closes on Sept. 9, we should have a decent slate of potential representatives to choose from (knock on wood).
So there is still plenty of time, but I’m surprised we haven’t heard any announcements in Tiny Town yet. Here we are in the middle of July, 12 weeks out from election day, and yet, nobody’s talking about it. Maybe it’s the summer effect?
Could be. But one would think that any serious challengers to Mayor Jack Crompton’s office would have started laying the groundwork for their campaign months ago—and would likely have a hard time keeping their intentions secret to this point.
So I checked in with a few trusted sources on the matter. Surely they’ve heard something?
For the most part, the people I spoke with have heard very little, if anything, though at least one person in the know is expecting a busy election season, and a flurry of announcements in the coming weeks.
In the meantime—all quiet on the electoral front.
In fact, as I sat down to write this, I wasn’t even sure who among our current council plans to run again. So I asked them.
Councillors Cathy Jewett, Ralph Forsyth and John Grills all said they are undecided, while Coun. Jen Ford said she is not ready to formally announce.
Coun. Arthur De Jong gave a “conditional yes,” noting he first needs to discuss with his environmental committees and the broader community.
Coun. Duane Jackson said he hopes to continue his work on housing—just not from the council table.
Whatever our current council plans to do, I’m confident we’ll see a diverse slate put their names forward for the chairs this fall.
It’s the mayor’s race that remains a question mark.
It has been more than a decade since Whistler had a proper race for the mayor’s chair.
In 2011—by all accounts one of the most hotly contested elections in Whistler’s relatively short history—six people put their names forward for mayor, with Nancy Wilhelm-Morden taking the win in a landslide.
In the 2014 election, the lone challenger to Wilhelm-Morden’s re-election was perennial candidate Shane Bennett (RIP), who garnered 136 votes to Wilhelm-Morden’s 2,083.
A whopping 20 candidates put their name forward to run for council in 2018—but nobody stepped up to challenge Crompton, who was elected by acclamation.
The mayor has yet to formally announce his re-election campaign—but spoiler alert: he’s running.
We don’t see eye to eye on all issues, and we likely never will. That’s to be expected. But despite some missteps, I believe Crompton has done an admirable job under extremely challenging circumstances in his first term as mayor.
That said, Whistlerites deserve a proper race for the mayor’s chair in 2022.
Whistler deserves to see Crompton stand in front of the community and answer their hard questions about housing, labour, growth and community balance (and everything in between).
I want qualified, intelligent challengers to step up and drive the discussion towards real, tangible solutions before we vote—emphasis on qualified and intelligent (and yes, I do have a few choice candidates from Whistler’s past elections in mind when I set those parameters).
Put another way, I want a choice—but I don’t want amateurish bullshit, pie-in-the-sky ideas, or to have to listen to candidates campaigning solely due to ego. If you want attention, start a TikTok.
At the risk of putting too fine a point on it, I view the Oct. 15 vote as one of the most crucial in Whistler’s history. The ideas floated, issues explored and debates that take place this fall will set the course for the next four years and beyond.
Will Whistler fold to the pressures of external growth, and embrace a bigger future beyond its current boundaries? Or will it stand strong behind its ideals and newly minted community vision?
Will our nature be protected? Will our guests be inspired? Will our community thrive?
The answers to those questions lie with Whistler’s next mayor and council.
Who fills the chairs is up to us—here’s hoping it won’t be an easy choice.
