This is commentary from Brian Lilley in the Toronto Sun about a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision.
I think this court ruling is misguided, to say the least, and, if it is not overturned, will have major negative implications for public safety in the province.
Those negative implications will definitely be showing up on Duncan streets.
Here is the Cowichan Valley Citizen report of my candidacy for Duncan Council in the 17 October 2026 election.
![Mark Anderson, candidate for Duncan Council in the 2026 City of Duncan municipal election. [DuncanTaxpayers.ca]](https://i0.wp.com/www.duncantaxpayers.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Mark_Anderson-Election_Photo-City_Duncan-2026-1662x1991-1.jpg)
Mark Anderson is running for a seat on Duncan city council.
I have been a Duncan resident and taxpayer since 2007 and I own a successful small business which operates in the Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo and Greater Victoria.
I think the City of Duncan needs to change course from the direction Mayor Staples’s administration has taken us over the last eight years. Here are some examples:
Housing
Mayor Staples has focussed on new housing for addicts and recovering addicts. The City now has three housing facilities for addicts and recovering addicts: The Village on Trunk Road, the modular apartments on White Road and the former Ramada Inn building on the Trans-Canada Highway.
I think the City needs to change this direction and instead prioritize new rental housing for workers, families and seniors.
Livability And Public Safety
I see these issues as being linked. We need to prioritize maintaining a safe, attractive downtown to attract residents, visitors and shoppers along with maintain residential neighbourhoods that are, and remain, desirable places to live.
At the same time, Duncan has gained a very undesirable reputation for high crime rates. One can argue about whether that is justified by crime statistics but Duncan is still perceived has having a crime problem. Crime adversely affects livability so Council needs to prioritize Public Safety issues. I don’t think Mayor Staples shared that opinion.
Municipal Taxes
Fiscal prudence and discipline are essential in any government. Taxpayers are taxed out and cannot afford higher than inflation tax increases. But over the Mayor Staples years, the majority of Council have not been Duncan taxpayers and have not been personally affected by the tax increases they have voted in. I have seen the present Council split between the taxpayers (the minority) and the non taxpayers (the majority) on votes dealing with new taxes and spending, with the taxpayers on Council voting against and the non taxpayers voting for new taxes and spending. I encourage Duncan voters to change this situation and elect a Council with a majority of members who are Duncan taxpayers and thus directly affected by any taxes they vote for.
Strategic Voting
Finally, I encourage voters to vote strategically. In the 2022 election, Councillor Gary Bruce was the most popular candidate among Duncan voters, receiving far more votes than any other candidate. I was one of those who voted for him in 2022 and I will vote for him again in this election.
But since 2022, Councillor Bruce has been effectively isolated on Council, with the majority of Council consistently voting against him. I ask voters to consider electing a new Council with a majority of members who are ideologically aligned with Councillor Bruce. Please consider voting for Gary Bruce, Mark Anderson, Jessica Fetchko and Bradley Humenick.
I have advocated that Duncan voters elect a Duncan Council with a majority of Council members who are Duncan residents and taxpayers. Here is an example of why I advocate that.
![The City of Duncan Council authorized $100,000 and a tax increase to purchase this Ford F-150 Lightning for the Fire Department's Deputy Chief to drive to fires. [photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca]](https://i0.wp.com/www.duncantaxpayers.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Duncan_Fire_Dept-Ford_F150_Lightning-DuncanTaxpayers-1662x1247-1.jpg)
The Duncan Fire Chief made this proposal in person at a Duncan Council meeting.
At the same Council meeting, the City of Duncan senior management, specifically CAO Peter de Verteuil and Director of Finance Bernice Crossman (both of whom are residents of North Cowichan and not Duncan taxpayers) recommended to Duncan Council that $100,000 be taken from a fund the City maintains for vehicle purchases in order purchase this Ford F-150 Lightning. Peter de Verteuil and Bernice Crossman also advocated that taxes be increased in order to replace the $100,000 they proposed to spend.
The subsequent Council vote split between the minority on Council who are Duncan taxpayers and the majority of Council who are not Duncan taxpayers.
Voting in favour of the spending proposal and the accompanying tax increase were Councillor Tom Duncan and Jenni Capps (both of whom are Duncan residents but not Duncan taxpayers) along with Mayor Michelle Staples and Councillor Stacy Middlemiss (both of whom are North Cowichan residents and not Duncan taxpayers).
Voting against this new spending and the accompanying tax increase were Councillors Garry Bruce and Mike McKinlay (now Mayor elect), who are both Duncan taxpayers and residents. It should be noted that Councillor (now Mayor elect) Mike McKinlay used to be the Duncan Fire Chief and, accordingly, it is quite reasonable to assume that he knows far more about the Duncan Fire Department and its equipment requirements than most people do. Councillor McKinlay voted against this proposal.
Councillor Carol Newington, who is also a Duncan resident and taxpayer, was not present at this Council meeting and thus did not vote on this proposal.
So here we have a clear cut case of Council members who are Duncan taxpayers voting against a spending proposal with a tax increase attached while the majority on Council who are not Duncan taxpayers voting in favour of a spending proposal and a tax increase which does not directly affect them.
I consider this a prime example of why it is important to a new Council on which the majority of members are Duncan resident AND taxpayers who are directly affected by any tax increase or new tax they vote to enact.
This above photo of outgoing Mayor Michelle Staples, Mayor elect Michael McKinlay and Duncan Councillors Tom Duncan and Carol Newington at the UBCM convention with Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, was posted on the City of Duncan Facebook page on 16 September 2026.
The text accompanying the Facebook post read:
“This morning, members of Duncan Council met with Honourable Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs (pictured centre), at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention to discuss opportunities to establish new recovery-focused supportive housing and long-term funding support for existing low-barrier housing like The Village.
Both low barrier and recovery-focused housing are important components of the housing continuum and are needed to support neighbourhood integration and improved outcomes for individuals transitioning away from homelessness.”
An important question Duncan voters need to consider in the 17 October 2026 municipal election is whether the City of Duncan should prioritize “new recovery-focused supportive housing” and “low-barrier housing”.
We also need to define what is meant by phrases such as “neighbourhood integration”.
Duncan already has several projects for “individuals transitioning away from homelessness.” These include The Villages on Trunk Road (mentioned in the Facebook post above). the BC Housing project on White Road and the former Ramada Inn on the Trans Canada Highway.
All of these projects prioritize housing for addicts or recovering addicts.
While that may be necessary one has to question whether Duncan, with three such existing projects already, needs to ““>establish new recovery-focused supportive housing”
Should we perhaps be talking more instead about promoting rental housing in Duncan for workers, young adults starting out in life, seniors and others in need of housing but who are not addicts or recovering addicts?
It seems these people, for whom there is a definite shortage of rental housing, are far too often overlooked in local government discussions about housing. They are certainly not mentioned at all in the City of Duncan Facebook post above.
I think we definitely should but that does not seem to feature in most local government discussions of housing.
If I am elected to City of Duncan Council I will definitely prioritize the rental housing needs of workers, young adults starting out in life, seniors and others in need of housing but who are not addicts or recovering addicts.
Just FYI, here are some videos I posted about housing when I ran for Duncan Council in 2022:
I will post some updated videos on housing in the near future.
This video about the current situation in Vancouver is getting a lot of online attention. It is hosted by Aaron Gunn, who is somewhat controversial to many people, but what it is saying is quite accurate.
Would you like to leave a question or comment about anything on this post?
A question I have been asked by many voters is, “What is your position on climate change?”
In answer to that question, I agree with the arguments raised by Dr. Bjorn Lomborg in his 2021 book, False Alarm: How The Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts The Poor And Fails To Fix The Planet. in which he argues that climate change is happening but current policies for dealing with it are economically unviable and unsustainable.
I recognize that this view is not shared by a local political action organization called One Cowichan, which is very active on climate issues and has been very successful in getting its candidates elected to City of Duncan Council, Municipality of North Cowichan Council and as CVRD Directors. Candidates supported by One Cowichan included Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples and Duncan Council members Stacy Middlemiss and Jenni Capps.
Here are some videos showing Dr. Bjorn Lomborg discussing his views:
At the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, August 2022
At the Centre For Independent Studies, Australia, 2021
At the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 2020
With Dr. Jordan Peterson, 2022 (edited)
With Dr. Jordan Peterson, 2022 (Full Interview)
With Dr. Jordan Peterson, and Ralph Schoellhammer, 2022 (Full Interview)
Would you like to leave a question or comment about anything on this post?
Mark Anderson – Candidate For City of Duncan Council.
Here are some of my comments on protecting and maintaining Duncan’s low density residential neighbourhoods.
Some members of the current City of Duncan Council have referred to Duncan’s low density residential neighbourhoods as “a dead model.” I believe Duncan’s low density residential neighbourhoods should be maintained in their present form.
Here is a video with some of my comments on that subject:
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
Mark Anderson – Candidate For Duncan Council
As a candidate for City of Duncan Council, one of the first questions, often the very first question, I am typically asked by Duncan voters is, “Do you live in Duncan?”
That is a very legitimate question and it is one I would ask any prospective candidate for Mayor of Duncan or for City of Duncan Council.
I live in Duncan, I pay taxes in Duncan and I own a business that operates in Duncan.
I think it is very important that Duncan residents, taxpayers and businesses be represented on Duncan Council by people who are actually residents of Duncan, who own a business in Duncan and/or who pay municipal taxes in Duncan.
All the current candidates for Duncan Council are Duncan residents, taxpayers or business owners with two exceptions: Tom Duncan and Stacy Middlemiss.
Tom Duncan is a long serving incumbent member of Duncan Council.
At the last municipal election in 2018, he was a resident of Duncan. According to official filings for this election, he is now a resident of Cobble Hill.
As far as I am aware, he is not a Duncan municipal taxpayer or a Duncan business owner.
Stacy Middlemiss is an incumbent member of Duncan Council, having been elected to Council in the municipal election of October 2018.
She is a resident of North Cowichan and was a resident of North Cowichan when elected to Council in 2018.
As far as I am aware, she is not a Duncan municipal taxpayer or business owner.
Mayor Michelle Staples has been re-elected by acclamation since no other candidate ran against her in this election.
She is a resident of North Cowichan.
As far as I am aware, she is not a Duncan municipal taxpayer or business owner.
Since our incumbent Mayor is a resident of North Cowichan and, as far as I am aware, is not a Duncan municipal taxpayer or business owner, I think it is particularly important in this election that Duncan voters elect members of Council who are actually Duncan residents, municipal taxpayers or business owners.
Would you like to leave a comment of question about anything on this post?
Here is my latest video with more of my comments on City of Duncan housing policies.
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
Here is a video with some of my comments about building housing in downtown Duncan.
I believe the City of Duncan made a mistake in granting an Option To Purchase a city owner lot on Kenneth Street to a local non-profit organization which proposes to build a three storey “public art gallery” bordering Kenneth Street, Ingram Street and City Hall Square.
Note that this non-profit organization wants taxpayers to fund its purchase of this city owner lot. The option runs for three years and would allow the non-profit organization to purchase this lot at the APPRAISED VALUE, not the MARKET VALUE, at the time of purchase.
Here are links to some local media coverage of this issue:
Would you like to leave a question or comment about anything on this post?