In what proved to be a polite and relatively lifeless open forum last Thursday, the four Oak Bay-Gordon Head candidates tackled questions from the audience on topics ranging from affordable housing for seniors to fish farms and fracking.
Oak Bay United Church was nearly full for the all candidates meeting.
Even moderator former Oak Bay mayor Christopher Causton gleefully declared a minor disagreement late in the event (over a mistake, as it turned out) as the first real passionate moment of the night.
"That's more like it. After two hours we finally have a disagreement," Causton said, in good humour.
Jessica van der Veen, wearing NDP orange, drew the most applause during the course of the debate, but Green Party candidate Andrew Weaver enjoyed his fair share, particularly while speaking to the environment and representation in Legislature.
"Once you elect somebody from one of the two traditional parties here, they lose their voice because they can no longer vote against a party decision," Weaver said. "This is one of the reasons that I'm running."
MLA Ida Chong and her Liberal party were on the receiving end of some pointed questions, but she didn't let the jabs phase her and earned some applause of her own by the night's end.
"I do believe that we're at a crossroads," said Chong in her opening remarks. "Things have changed dramatically. … We need to have a longterm plan and a longterm vision."
The candidates stuck to their party lines throughout the evening. Conservative Greg Kazakoff stuck to his guns about keeping government small and being fiscally responsible, while Chong championed her track record and experience with politics. Weaver spoke quickly and with confidence on issues related to the environment. Van der Veen touted her party's platform – the portion that had been released by the time of the debate – and spoke confidently of a new approach for B.C. politics with the NDP at the helm.
"We'll say what we'll do and then we'll do what we say," van der Veer said. "If I earn your trust, I will be a strong voice in the new B.C. NDP government in British Columbia and I will stand up for our community."
Fracking proved to be a divisive issue, with Kazakoff stating from his experience in the oil and gas industry that fracking going on in B.C. is perfectly safe and a "red herring" issue.
"B.C. fracking is not an issue," Kazakoff said. "Various political parties (blame) the oil and gas industry, which I think is counterproductive to the economic wealth and gain of B.C."
Weaver disagreed.
"The B.C. Green party is calling for a moratorium on fracking before we study it," Weaver said. "We don't know what it's doing to our groundwater, and to continue exhibiting a gold rush mentality is irresponsible, for not only the present generation but future generations."
One audience member asked Chong to give an example of a time when she disagreed with her party's policies and how she raised her concerns. Chong said she has disagreed, has voiced her disagreement, but isn't able to give specific examples for reasons of party solidarity.
"We don't get to come out and explain that disagreement, but there have been many occasions where I did. I was able to stop a few of those changes."