Lack of political engagement this election concerning for the Cowichan Valley and democracy as a whole

September 26 2024

As concerned peoples of the Cowichan Valley, Revolve is deeply disappointed by the absence of all-candidates meetings in our community leading up to the provincial election on October 19. We believe these meetings are crucial for maintaining a healthy democracy and informed electorate.

Several weeks ago, Revolve attempted to organize an all-candidates meeting at the Hub at Cowichan Station with The Discourse as a moderator. We invited all the local MLA candidates, but only two accepted: Eden Haythornthwaite (independent) and Cammy Lockwood (Greens). Because of this, we decided to change to a more informal meeting to hear from Haythornthwaite and Lockwood.

Since then, we have been waiting to see if other community groups and organizations would be hosting public and accessible all-candidates meetings. To our dismay, we have not seen any fully public forums, other than one organized by Queen Margaret’s School on October 15, though it is unclear if all of the candidates will be in attendance. There is also one all-candidates meeting planned for the town of Lake Cowichan by the Cowichan Lake Chamber of Commerce on October 4.

The Downtown Duncan Business Improvement Association (DDBIA) will be hosting an all-candidates meeting on October 7 that is only meant for engagement from its members and businesses to discuss “small business issues”. Though the DDBIA has clarified that the public can send questions ahead of time, we are disappointed to learn that there won’t be an opportunity for public input beyond issues that only pertain to small businesses.

The school board (District 79) invited all local MLA candidates to speak to school trustees privately, but these meetings were not available to the public, nor could the public listen in on the candidates’ platforms or discussions in any way.

All-candidates meetings are vital for the health of democracy because they provide an opportunity for the community to engage with local politicians and ask important questions. All-candidates meetings provide an opportunity to compare the platforms of each politician and to hold politicians accountable for their promises and positions made during the campaign trail. Transparency seems to be lacking in elections and with each passing year, we are witnessing our communities become less and less politically engaged.

We call upon all candidates and local organizations to work together to organize and facilitate these important events. Our community deserves the opportunity to make an informed choice based on direct interaction with those who seek to represent us.

Revolve urges all residents of the Cowichan Valley to join us in advocating for fair, public and accessible all-candidates meetings. Our elected leaders must be accountable to us—the workers and community members who make our communities function.