At this civic election time, Qualicum Beach is at a crossroads. I believe a large number of citizens feel ignored and disrespected by the current council and are fearful that this will continue if councillors Mary Brouilette, Bill Luchtmeijer and Dave Willie are re-elected to council.
There are those who believe that the public is canvassed once each three or four years as to who they wish to elect to council and after that, the public needs little or no input into decision-making. Others believe that councillors are elected to represent all members of their community and that when faced with decisions, they must involve the community in consensus-based decision-making.
It appears to me that these three incumbent members of the council believe in the first approach and I believe this has angered and disappointed many citizens who believe in the latter. For candidates or media to argue that those who oppose the three are merely a vocal minority, is irrelevant and unhelpful. We will find out if the discontented sector of the community is in the majority on Nov. 15. Until then, we should limit our discussions to issues and the voting record of the incumbents.
Kevin MonahanQualicum Beach