At the time of writing this, I have been very encouraged to see that all the recently announced candidates for Saanich council are young(ish).
Dean Murdock and Fred Haines will not be running for election as councillors again. That means of the six remaining councillors, five are senior citizens. I don’t know whether all of them have announced their intentions to run again or not. There is a great deal to be said for experience, however, it cannot be healthy for the majority of councillors to be elderly.
I am elderly myself and I know how the rapidly changing needs of governing our municipality will require different skills found only in younger people. There is no sugar coating it: it gets harder to adapt and immerse yourself in the new technologies and the advances in society in your later years.
When entering the voting booth in October, I hope citizens will consider the need for a wider demographic of age and experience on our council. It is important for the council to represent a broad cross-section of the Saanich population to face our collective future challenges.
Bill Williamson
Saanich