As the only Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) incumbent being challenged in the Nov. 15 election, three-term Elphinstone director Lorne Lewis defended his record on the environment when he faced off with Robert Corlett and Thomas Murray at a packed candidates forum in Frank West Hall on Oct. 29.
Calling for the establishment of two regional parks as envisioned in the Elphinstone official community plan, Corlett said the SCRD has known since the summer of last year about plans by BC Timber Sales (BCTS) to log district lot 1313 at the end of Reed Road, but “no action has been taken.”
Corlett also blasted the SCRD for spending the last 15 years talking about a floating pump station at Chapman Lake instead of abandoning the idea and introducing universal water metering.
In response, Lewis said he has “spent ages” talking to BCTS officials about lot 1313 and they know “we want it for a park and it’s a watershed protection area.” On the floating pump station proposal, Lewis said he had publicly spoken out against the idea on three occasions.
“I’ve been a strong defender of the environment,” Lewis said.
Open government was also raised as an issue early in the forum.
Advocating “accessible and open representation,” Murray said some residents had voiced concerns about the SCRD not answering phone calls or addressing important issues.
Lewis, however, said the SCRD always provides “a lot” of public input.
“When it comes to openness, we have public information meetings, sometimes two on issues. Sometimes we even have two public hearings on issues, because there was a feeling that things weren’t covered well enough,” he said.
Asked to identify the most important issues facing the SCRD in the next four years, Corlett said, “The economy is by far the number one issue.” Because of the stagnant economy, he said, “there’s a lack of well-paying jobs to keep the youth in the community.”
He also cited infrastructure costs as a major issue, saying that without universal water metering, the SCRD will be unable to get grants from senior levels of government for water system improvements “and we will pay 100 per cent of that from our property taxes.”
Thomas said building a sustainable local economy was paramount and barriers should be removed that prevent people from starting small businesses.
“We need to create an atmosphere on the Coast where people want to create work here,” he said.
Keying on the agricultural sector in many of his responses, Thomas said most farm jobs can’t offer 40 hours a week, but suggested a pool of workers could be set up and “it would be very easy to spread that over many farms.”
Lewis identified the regional water system as a major issue and said SCRD borrowing is “another worry.”
“Every time we spend a dollar on interest, that’s a service or acquisition that we forego,” he said. “I’ve been really diligent about opposing going into debt in areas that are minor expenditures.”
Like the other two candidates, Lewis said he would support a corporate review of the SCRD, but added that other directors would also have to be convinced.
