In a brief in camera session last week, Ucluelet council decided on the results of next November’s civic election.
In Canada, a governing body normally does not pick its own successors, but in Ucluelet’s case the lack of voter interest has been so marked for decades that past councils were forced to create their own system. The choosing of a replacement council by a sitting council is now a Ukee tradition.
As widely expected, Dianne St. Jacques will sit again in the mayor’s place. Councillors Bill Irving and Eric Russcher (both of I-R-J Day fame) will return to the same chairs. Councillor Dario Corlazzoli will be replaced by the next name on the rotating list of approved councillors, and as usual there will be one “wild card” seat left open to maintain the illusion that Ucluelet is an operating democracy.
All existing policies and procedures, both public and behind-the-scenes, will remain unaltered. As has been the norm for the past several decades, members of council will continue to hold influential positions on all key committees and organizations in town, thus ensuring that the same narrow set of ideas and ideologies rules every game in town.
Council says Ukee residents can continue to bask in their political fog as nothing is expected to change. Ever.
