Tuesday October 15, 2024 | SAANICH, BC [Updated at 6:42 pm]
BC ELECTION CAMPAIGN DAY 25 of 28
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Your 28-day voter’s guide for BC Election 2024
In Saanich South there is a race underway to change things.
Adam Kubel is running for the BC Conservatives in a riding that has been NDP orange since 2009 (with Lana Popham as the MLA).
Popham has put Saanich South on the map, first through her work as the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and after that as Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. Under her watch Buy BC was born and she announced the funding for the FIFA World Cup 2026 games that will be played in Vancouver.
Popham is running again for the BC NDP in Saanich South, and the BC Greens have Ned Taylor as their candidate there.
In this last week of the campaign Kubel will be speaking at a BC Conservative rally in Nanaimo tomorrow night (October 16), holding meetings with stakeholder groups, and doing more door-knocking.
A shift back to Conservative?
Has anything changed in the Saanich South riding that would allow a BC Conservative win?
What can Kubel do that would benefit the constituents of Saanich South? He answered that for an hour in front of an attentive and supportive crowd in a church hall last Wednesday night.
Saanich South used to be a riding held by the BC Liberals (from 2001 to 2009) when Susan Brice was the MLA. For a short time under then Premier Gordon Campbell she was Minister of State for Mental Health and Addiction Services and then was Minister of Human Resources for less than a year (the position was abolished). After that Brice went on to sit on Saanich municipal council. She had also been the Mayor of Oak Bay during 1985 to 1990. All of that with a sort of ‘government order’ approach which in 2024 seems to be the tone of BC Conservative as well.
Power couple:
This candidate is highly energized! He and his wife Sarah are policy-level government employees and they are second-time parents — baby number two is brand new (born mid-campaign on Saturday October 5)!
Adam is presently Manager of Project Delivery and Methodology at Island Health and Sarah works in the parks area of the BC Government.
Pragmatic approach:
Kubel held the public’s attention first with an overview of his background having delivered project management within the BC government during the COVID pandemic. He takes pride in having managed effective delivery of the vaccine products as the immunization program rolled out starting in 2021 but was straightforward about how the health-care system can be improved.
Then he went through a number of platform areas that are important for him to work on if he gets elected on October 19. He covered tax cuts, agriculture, housing affordability, the overreach of municipal government (regarding housing growth), and the overdose crisis.
He advocates for “smaller government that doesn’t force things on municipalities”. He is in favour of “bringing back treatment centres”.
“I want to become your advocate if you don’t see the system working for you,” said Kubel to the audience. “I’m not a newcomer to government or pragmatism,” he said.
Broad range of issues:
Audience questions covered a range of topics including the cost of rent for young adults and the overdose crisis. Kubel was supportive to his supporters while also demonstrating a balanced analysis of the issues.
Kubel shares concern with folks about the rising cost of rent and how many young adults can’t presently afford to live in BC.
Kubel referred to the evening as “the longest job interview process” and that he is “in it to win it”. That seemed to reveal a business mindset more than a policy-driven agenda.
“I want to be an advocate for the community because I don’t think it is where it needs to be,” he told the crowd.
He believes in “firm boundaries and lines”, saying “my best will be the best it can be”. He used the issue of electronic health records as one aspect of the health-care system that he hopes to see improved. He supports the BC Conservative Patients First model that BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad released early in the campaign.
“Investment up front is cheaper in the long run,” he says by looking at the facts and at the trajectory of what he’s seen in health-care system project management. When health concerns are delayed, so goes the diagnosis and the treatment. Dealing with a more progressed or serious health issue generally costs the system more money and is more intensive for the patient.
In summary, he supports the BC Conservative slogan about bringing common sense into government management. That includes taking a fresh approach to the SOGI program that has made its way into schools. It started as anti-bullying and has become something else. He wants parents to be involved in their children’s education including that part of the curriculum. The appropriate timing of age-appropriate information is more his approach than what is happening in the schools right now.
Climate change and natural resources:
Where he may differ from the BC Conservative stance is about climate change. “Climate change is 100% real,” said Kubel, while saying that Rustad has acknowledged that.
“But if you prioritize everything you have prioritized nothing,” Kubel told the crowd.
“The Conservative Party can make a difference with environmental issues” said Kubel when asked about his career background in environmental areas. He returns against to “pragmatic decision making” in that regard.
He told Island Social Trends after the Q&A: “If you want to explore natural resources you have to do it in a way that doesn’t harm the environment… be aware of cause and effect,” says Kubel. He feels that BC needs to “explore the economic benefits of natural resources in a way that is measured and controlled in line with the appropriate standards and regulations”… I think the party can lead in this and set a new standard.”
Learning the ropes:
Later in chatting with someone in the audience Kubel back-pedaled softly over a former police officer in the crowd who was hardline on involuntary care for dealing with substance use or overdose. That same person had challenged him in that issue during the group Q&A and Kubel was able to agree but not all the way.
This interaction showed how Kubel has the instincts to be moderate on things, though he is new to politics and his points may hit home more effectively with further practice.
If he were to win on election night October 19, what lies beyond that?
“It’s the job of an MLA to represent the constituency, to negotiate policy and negotiate within the party and across the aisle as well,” said Kubel in an interview with Island Social Trends. He says as an MLA it would “be his job to test whether something would be a success in the external environment in the communities and the internal environment within the party as well”.
He said that he appreciated some of the ‘hard questions’ from the audience at his meet-and-greet from because “there’s nuance and things that I don’t understand and I can learn about”.
The riding:
The Saanich South electoral area has a geographical footprint of 105 sq km within Greater Victoria, with a population of about 59,000 (about 17% of the Greater Victoria area population). The riding includes a core area of the Greater Victoria region with established housing and long-standing neighbourhoods, and businesses large and small.
Saanich South is home to the Interurban Campus of Camosun College and to the popular Mount Douglas Park. There is prime agricultural land in the area.
Well-traveled highways in South South include Highway 1 on the southern boundary line, West Saanich Road, and Highway 17 (aka the Pat Bay Highway) that runs right up the middle of the riding. The Keating X Rd interchange on Highway 17 has been upgraded this year.
The riding includes Prospect Lake, Beaver Lake and Elk Lake, the Saanich Inlet and the oceanside at Cordova Bay.
The boundaries of Saanich South have not changed for Election 2024 (as did others in the west shore area and the Nanaimo region where population growth is surging).
Advance voting:
Advance voting continues this week, today October 15 and tomorrow October 16. Final voting day is Saturday October 19.
===== RELATED:
- Lana Popham seeks 5th term as Saanich South MLA (October 10, 2024)
- BC Election 2024: advance voting on now for six days (October 10, 2024)
- Six days of advance voting in BC Election 2024 (October 3, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: POLITICS | VANCOUVER ISLAND | BC ELECTION 2024