The Current candidate survey

Being a local politician is more than just sitting at a table and making promises. It’s a job that involves tough decisions, careful planning, and cooperation with other politicians.

For that reason, we sent out a questionnaire to all candidates in Langley, Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack, Agassiz, Harrison, Hope, and the Fraser Valley Regional District.

We asked whether they thought their community was growing fast or too slow, what kind of housing was needed most, whether enough was being done on reconciliation issues (among other questions).

School board candidates were asked whether they would prioritize hiring support staff or teachers, if school bus use should be encouraged or limited, and whether they prioritized improving the variety, quality, or access of programs. Candidates were also asked if they thought schools were better or worse than when they were children (and a bunch of other questions).

The questionnaires aimed to emulate the kinds of decisions politicians would need to make for their communities—and leave as little room for ambiguity as a vote at the council table would. (Some candidates balked at the survey, with some reason: it was designed to be hard and make easy answers rare. Like a council decision, some questions were designed to get candidates to choose between two imperfect options. You can read managing editor Tyler Olsen’s response to one candidate here.)

Of the 203 candidates for mayor, council, electoral area director, and school board, 124 answered the questionnaire. You can find their answers on topics ranging from spending, municipal services, housing, social issues, and more below. If you don’t see a candidate, that means they did not answer the survey.

Learn more about the election in your community through our election hubs:

Mayor, council, electoral area director

Our questionnaire for municipal and electoral area candidates is divided into eight sections.

The Basics gives candidates an opportunity to introduce themselves in their own words. Pace of Development and Housing ask candidates about their thoughts on the future of housing in their community. Spending and Services allow candidates to share their thoughts on spending and community services. Climate change and Social issues ask candidates about their policies on climate change, reconciliation, homelessness, and other social issues. Council culture asks candidates about their approach to decision-making at the council table.

The easiest way to browse the answers is by entering your local community in the search bar.

(Note: Formatting the short-answer data proved challenging. The best way to navigate the answers is to use the interactive boxes below. But, if you have trouble with navigating the display below, we have made printable PDFs for each community’s candidates. You can find those here: City of Langley | Township of Langley | Abbotsford | Mission | Chilliwack | Harrison Hot Springs | Kent | Hope | FVRD)

Candidate answers have not been edited. They are ordered by when candidates submitted their responses.

School board

Our questionnaire for trustee candidates is divided into two sections.

The Basics gives candidates an opportunity to introduce themselves in their own words. The Questions asks candidates about their thoughts on spending, educational resources, board room culture, and more.

The easiest way to browse the answers is by entering your local community in the search bar.

(Note: Formatting the snort-answer data proved challenging. The best way to navigate the answers is to use the interactive boxes below. But If you have trouble with navigating the display below, we have made printable PDFs of the short-answer responses for each community’s candidates. You can find those here: Langley (SD35) | Abbotsford (SD34) | Mission (SD75) | Chilliwack (SD33) | Fraser-Cascade (SD78)

Candidate answers have not been edited. They are ordered by when candidates submitted their responses.

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