Valemount

But there are some municipalities across Canada right now who are heading to an election or are in election cycle, but their entire council has been acclaimed.

One particularly i- in, that I know of in British Columbia is the town of Valemount.

Their entire council has been acclaimed.

Should residents still be asking the acclaimed councilors some tough questions? Because sometimes we often think, "Oh, you're acclaimed, so I don't need to worry about it, and I don't need to campaign, so I'm just gonna go in on a, uh, on the d- morning after the election, swear the oath, and start my new job as an elected official for four years." But we as residents and voters still have to hold them accountable.

Now today, we want to step away from the campaign rhetoric and hear directly from the people on the ground and what they're seeing and hearing in their own communities.

Joining us for today's roundtable discussion are three municipal leaders from across the province of British Columbia, and they are Valemount Mayor Owen Torgerson.

I'm gonna pronounce all their names wrong, so please just bear with me, and they're all going to laugh at me when I get through it.

Cariboo Regional District Director Steve Forseth.

Uh, and h- having 35 years collective experience, uh, leaving the chambers and having four brand-new councilors coming in, uh, number one, I'm [laughs] I'm ready to be retrained.

And, uh, number two, I think by not having a municipal election, it really gives residents, uh, more focus on what's happening pr- provincially.

Uh, I believe we have four candidates running in our, uh, pr- provincial candidates running for Prince George-Valemount.

Um, and that's across the board, uh, you know, left and right.

What do you think about the field so far, Reg?

Well, I, I think, uh, OneBC obviously thinks there's gonna be some blood in the water in some ridings, and I think that's why there's a guy, uh, ru- running in the Valemount, uh, riding.

But a- anyone that watched what happened, I think most people who know Rosalyn Bird thought, you know what? She saw things falling apart and didn't want to be, uh, associated with what really became a bit of a debacle for the conservatives.

And then when she realized that was taken care of, she came back.

Cleveland, that's cool.

So he said they were debating whether they stay in Hinton or Vailmont on their trip, and they ended up staying in Vailmont.

Oh, cool.

I love tourists, and I love people that come here from different places, because you know what? They're always happy.