It was not an official meeting, but most of Saanich’s newly elected council met Wednesday during an orientation session held at Esquimalt’s Gorge Vale Golf Club.
The session featured representatives from various municipalities in the region, with organizers billing it as a “great overall introduction” to newly council members, and a “refresher” for returning councillors.
Eight of nine council members attended the session, which covered local government roles, legal requirements, as well as respectful work places and processes.
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“I felt a great camaraderie at our first meeting amongst [council],” said Coun. Colin Plant. “Unfortunately, [Coun. Judy] Brownoff had a previous engagement but [eight out of nine] attending was great.”
In 2014 — three Saanich officials attended the same session, all of whom had just won election for the first time: then mayor-elect Richard Atwell, current mayor-elect Fred Haynes, and Plant after both had won their respective candidacies for councillor.
“We have another session this coming Monday night as well as two weeks of orientation [in] Saanich,” said Plant.
Out-going councillor Leif Wergeland expects that the group will work well together, and looks forward to seeing it in action. But he also warns the four incoming councillors — Rebecca Mersereau, Ned Taylor, Nathalie Chambers, and Zac de Vries — of a steep learning curve.
“I don’t think they have any idea what awaits them,” he said. “But they are smart young people.”
One of the questions looming over this council revolves around the future relations between the five returning members (mayor-elect Haynes, Plant, as well as Couns. Brice, Brownoff, and Harper) and the four newly-elected members (Nathalie Chambers, Rebecca Mersereau, Zac de Vries, and Ned Taylor, with the last two joining council at the respective age of 23 and 19 years.
“I can see the fascination with unusually young councillors getting elected around the region,” said Brice. “My hope is that within six months we will be focusing on alliances being made to find common ground in best interest of Saanich.”