Who are the 3,209 people running for local office in B.C.?
CBC
There are 3,209 people across British Columbia running for local office in next month's municipal elections — and a lot of them have a story much like Colby Harder's.
"For a long time, I felt really powerless. I'd gone to council and said my piece … and I didn't feel heard," said the 26-year-old from Langford, who has only known one mayor (Stew Young) her entire life.
"Now, I could sit around and complain, or I could actually try to do something about it. And that's why I decided to run because I felt like there was no representation for myself."
Harder hopes to be elected to council on Oct. 15, but she's not the only one.
Here's a chart-based look at who is running in B.C.'s municipal elections and how it compares over time.
All told, the 3,209 people running for mayor, council, school board, park board commissioner, regional director or Islands Trust director is the lowest number in B.C. since at least 2018.
It's a 3.4 per cent drop from that year — not as large as some feared, but a potential effect of what many have described as a toxic political culture dissuading good candidates from stepping forward.
"When I hear of elected representatives who are saying I'm not doing this anymore because of this venom … it makes me very, very sad," said Premier John Horgan at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, where the topic of people not running for office was front and centre.
At the same time, the number of incumbent local politicians seeking re-election stayed stable in B.C., after several elections in a row of the trendline going down.
And when it came to mayors specifically, 70 per cent across B.C. have chosen to run again, up from 65.2 per cent in 2018.
The reluctance of people to run in a more toxic political environment may have been balanced out by the desire of existing politicians to see through plans that were put on hold.
"Well, mostly because of COVID," said Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart, explaining why he was running again after pledging in 2018 that it would be his last term.
"I had a number of things I wanted to accomplish, and then at the beginning of year two [of my term], everything ground to a halt."
A record number of women are running in B.C. local elections — though it's still a clear minority of candidates.