There were 11 of 12 city council candidates, and two mayoral candidates at the all-candidates’ event at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre hosted by Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Chilliwack BIA on Wednesday evening.
RELATED: 2018 event had 14 council candidates
It was the first chance for many people to hear from council candidates directly. There were more than 150 people in person and many others watching the livestream.
The two mayoral candidates took centre stage from 7 to 7:45 p.m. followed by questions for council candidates in the theatre from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Candidates weighed in on key issues facing Chilliwack: active transportation, social issues, adding an Indigenous seat on council, affordable housing, attracting physicians, crime, transportation connectivity, and more.
Many got the opportunity to explain their motivation for running.
The event was seamlessly moderated by former city councillor Diane Janzen, executive director of Community Services.
As is usual with Chamber hosted election events like these, questions were submitted by attendees/viewers are found online with the interactive app, sli.do, and they can vote to see them rise and fall in the queue. Enter the code #ChwkDebate to view and post questions.
More to come.
Watch the video below to see the three-hour candidate showcase. It’s billed by organizers as a debate but that is a misnomer since it doesn’t follow debating rules.
Candidates for mayor:
•Ian Carmichael
•Ken Popove (incumbent)
Candidates for Council:
•Amber Price
•Brent Bowker
•Bud Mercer (incumbent)
•Chris Kloot (incumbent)
•Craig Hill
•Debora Soutar
•Harv Westeringh (incumbent)
•Jared Mumford
•Jason Lum (incumbent)
•Jeff Shields (incumbent)
•Mike McLatchy
•Nicole Huitema Read
RELATED: Meeting the candidates
RELATED: Election stories 2022
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jennifer.feinberg@theprogress.com
@CHWKjourno
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