Written by MARK NIELSEN
Citizen staff
|
|
Wednesday, 19 November 2008 |
Candidate endorsements by a handful of groups around the city played a role in deciding the makeup of Prince George's new city council, but how much is difficult to say, according to University of Northern B.C. professor Gary Young.
Six of the seven council candidates who received a B-plus or better on a report card issued by the People's Action Committee for Healthy Air were elected to city council on Saturday. As well, Mayor-elect Dan Rogers earned an A-plus compared to main challenger Don Zurowski's B-plus.
"That's fairly significant," Young said of the outcome.
In contrast, two of the five endorsed by Let's Go P.G., a group of largely downtown businesspeople, failed to make the cut.
"That's not a very good record in my opinion," Young said.
The two Let's Go P.G. candidates who did not get elected -- MaryAnne Arcand and Glen Scott -- failed to respond to PACHA's questionnaire on air quality. Arcand was also endorsed by The Citizen but with some reluctance because she failed to respond to the questionnaire.
Support from the Prince George and District Labour Council also went only so far as Diane Nakamura was not elected. Rogers and elected council incumbents Murry Krause, Brian Skakun and Debora Munoz, who scored high on the PACHA report card, also had the PGDLC's support.
PACHA has more than 1,100 members. Two other groups involved in the questionnaire, the North Nechako and Heritage Residents' Association for Healthy Air and the Millar Addition Citizens' Coalition, have 100 and 200 members respectively.
Shari Green, who earned a B from PACHA and was endorsed by Let's Go P.G. and the Citizen, finished second in the council race. The downtown business owner emphasized downtown revitalization and public safety during her campaign.
Young said it is the first time he's seen such involvement from community groups but doubts they'll transform into political parties. More possible, said Young, is that more groups may emerge to publicly endorse candidates in future elections, whether they're focused on particular issues or on specific areas of the city.
"The second type gets us close to a ward-type system," he said.
In northern B.C., just six incumbent mayors remain in their seats, but only four incumbents were defeated in elections, while 12 did not seek re-election. Two of the defeated incumbents -- Nate Bello in Quesnel and Rob MacDougall in Fort St. James -- are notably left of centre.
"NDP leader Carole James has suggested that this is a huge shift, that voters were indicating their disapproval of what Gordon Campbell's doing," Young said. "It may be the case in some places; they're certainly saying that in Vancouver where Campbell's former party lost a lot of support, but I don't know if that comes out in Prince George. I don't think it does," Young said.
 |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 November 2008 )
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
