Whistler voters will get a chance to see all the council, mayoral and school trustee candidates first hand Saturday at the Whistler Chamber of Commerce-sponsored all-candidates meeting.
The meeting gets underway at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 at Myrtle Philip school.
The four candidates for two school trustee positions – Don Brett, Bea Gonzalez, Andreé Janyk, and Richard Wyne – will be up first. The candidates will each have three minutes to introduce themselves and outline their positions. There will then be 15 minutes for questions from the audience, followed by one minute for each candidate to sum up.
The candidates for the six councillor positions are up next, at about 3:35 p.m. The 18 candidates will each have three minutes to introduce themselves. A 30-minute question period will follow, and then candidates will have one minute each to summarize their positions.
The two mayoralty candidates, incumbent Hugh O’Reilly and challenger Dave Davenport, will take the stage at about 5:20 p.m. They will each have five minutes to outline their positions. That will be followed by 20 minutes of questions from the floor. The mayoralty candidates will then have four minutes each to sum up.
Names will be drawn from a hat to determine order of speakers in each group.
Advance voting starts this week
Meanwhile, advance voting gets underway Wednesday, Nov. 6 at municipal halls in Whistler and West Vancouver. Another advanced vote will be held Saturday, Nov. 9 at the same locations. Voting takes place between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. both days.
Municipal elections are Saturday, Nov. 16. Voting in Whistler will take place at Myrtle Philip Community School from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Whistler residents and property owners can also vote at Rockridge Middle School in West Vancouver, located at 5350 Headland Drive.
To qualify to vote as a resident elector you must be at least 18 years of age, a Canadian citizen, a resident of British Columbia for at least six months immediately prior to registering, and a resident of Whistler for at least 30 days immediately before registering. You must also not be disqualified from voting under the Local Government Act or otherwise disqualified by law.
You may register on the day that you vote; you will be required to produce two pieces of identification at the time of registration that provide evidence of your identity (a driver's license and birth certificate). At least one piece of identity must contain your signature.
If you are a Whistler property owner, but Whistler is not your primary residence, you may vote in the local general election as a non-resident property elector. You can only vote once, no matter how many pieces of property you own and if more than one individual is named on the title, you must have written consent from the other owners to vote, in addition to all the requirements listed below. One vote per property.
To determine if you are registered on the List of Electors drop by municipal hall or call chief election officer Brenda Sims at 604-935-8110 or toll free, 1-866-932-5535.
