Final days of City Council race finding a range of themes to consider

The eight candidates for Prince Rupert City Council at the Lester Centre
on October 1st. Since then, the bulk of their campaign has moved forward
through social media and door to door information
(screenshot of debate night from CityWest)

City Council candidates are trying their best to recapture some of the spotlight on civic issues that was taken up with last weeks on line observations from Mayor Lee Brain on the theme of the Ridley Island Tax Arrangement, with flyers, newspaper ads and social media posts making for their opportunities to help voters return their focus to task at hand that of the election of six council candidates this Saturday.

When it comes to delivering their messages however, some of the candidates have been more active than others, some with an expansive range of options for voters to review, others with simple commentary through facebook, or just the use of lawn signs to spread the word.

As the last few weeks have moved forward, the two with the highest profiles were Councillors Cunningham and Mirau, who have a range of media projects heralding their campaign themes.

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Mr. Mirau features the most polished of the campaigns to this point, with a Public Relations blitz that covers multiple areas from social media, to colour newspaper ads and a plethora of lawn signs.

As well Mr. Mirau's website and Facebook page look to generate conversation on a number of topics.

Among some of the themes he has explored, the Port Ed tax Deal, reducing utility charges and taxes for business owners, future plans for Watson Island. His social media posts also highlight other talking points and observations of the campaign so far.

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For his part, Mr. Cunningham has mostly relied on his Facebook page and lawn signs to make his case for re-election, his social media stream having created a video roll of issues that he has worked on in the past, a videoflow that makes use of some familiar headlines from the North Coast Review to provide for the rolling delivery of the issues of concern to the candidate.

Among them issues of transparency, city staffing levels, derelict buildings and the need for a clean up plan for the community.

One key issue raised by the incumbent councillor is that of Health Care and the need for City Council to remain watchful that residents are not forgotten by Victoria, a theme that really should have generated more interest among the other candidates in the lead up to Saturday's vote.

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Councillor Randhawa has gone to the more traditional newspaper ad route to deliver his message, reinforcing his message of accessibility and approachability  with a focus on affordable housing, and quality of life for seniors and youngsters.

He recently launched a political Facebook page to explore those themes further.

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Newcomer to politics Nick Adey has put forward a wide ranging approach to his campaign, with social media his main form of information sharing, along with a door to door delivery around the city, to highlight his five priorities of economic diversity, affordability, environmental sustainability, quality of life and continuity.

He follows up on those themes through his Facebook page.

Like many of the others, he has also added to the growth of the election campaign sign industry, with a number of his signs placed in strategic locations around the city, along with some newspaper ads to reinforce the message.

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Door to door flyers have provided some glimpses into how Sarah Dantzer would shape opinions around the Council chamber, she also has five priorities in mind making note of the city's water infrastructure, need for housing and improvements on transportation infrastructure.

She also looks to increase community gardens as part of a food security plan as well as to explore renewable energy options in the community.

Like many of the candidates, a good portion of her campaign has been delivered through her Facebook page, along with casual get togethers through the campaign at a range of locations.

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Other than his commentary through the Mayor's Facebook notes of last week on Port Edward, the bulk of the campaigning for incumbent Wade Niesh has been to host sidewalk discussions on Second Avenue West directly in front of the Liquor Store, with the candidate standing by to answer questions of those who stop by to explore the issues further.

He has also expanded on some of his themes with some commentary through his Facebook page as well.

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So far, the campaigns of Reid Skelton Morven and Charmayne Carlson have been rather low key affairs, with lawn signs and a bio piece for the weekly paper the bulk of their engagement with the voters to this point.

Mr. Morven has made occasional use of a Facebook page to provide for campaign updates over the course of the last few weeks.

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The push through advertising will probably deliver a boost in ad revenues for this Thursday's edition of the local paper, while the social media posts and updates will continue to roll through up until Friday night.

One option to try and recap some of the main talking points can come from a replay of the Council Debate session of October 1st, you can access the archived elements from that discussion from our post of October.

For those looking for a wider overview of some of the issues of the past year that Council members have had to address, you can review our Council Discussion archives for a trip back in the time machine.

Today makes for the last of the advance polling opportunities at City Hall, with polls open until 8 PM tonight.

General Voting takes place Saturday from 8 to 8 at the Prince Rupert Civic Centre, when registered voters in the city will make their choice for six council members for the next four years, as well as which six of eleven candidates will help to shape school district policy at the School Board level.

For more items of note related to the 2018 election campaign see our archive pages below:


Prince Rupert, Port Edward and Haida Gwaii

NorthWest Inland areas