Below are the emails I sent to my list of subscribers during the 2022 election campaign.

Sep 21, 2022: The Campaign is Underway!

Thank you for supporting my campaign!

First, let me express my gratitude to you for subscribing to my campaign newsletter. After sending a personal email to friends and acquaintances letting them know I’m running for District of North Vancouver Council, I received many responses of support and encouragement. Though I’ve run for office before (at the provincial level), it’s never easy, and involves a big investment of time and energy. However, it can be very rewarding to know that I have spoken about principles that I hold dear, and my fellow citizens have heard me out. Perhaps some of them are even better for it.

Upcoming events

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there are many all candidates events from now until October 15th. All the neighbourhood associations are hosting them, and there are others hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, the Library, etc (see the District’s website for the full list of events). If you’d like to support me by attending one of these events, please do! They’re a great opportunity to get to know the other candidates as well. Here are the ones happening in the coming week:

Donations

I’ve received my first donation! Thanks to a generous contribution from a friend (who is a veteran of many political campaigns himself), I’ll now be able to purchase some signs, which you can expect to see around town by Oct 1. I’d be grateful for a few more dollars to print some flyers or door hangers. My website isn’t set up to take donations, but I’m happy to accept an e-transfer or cheque.

Check out my blog

I now have a few posts up on my blog on issues that will be discussed during this election. I’ve just put up a new one about the “privatization” of a public park in my neighbourhood, something that’s bothered me since I was ticketed there in 2020. I’ve also submitted it to the North Shore News as a letter to the editor.

Thank you,
Clayton Welwood, candidate for District of North Vancouver Council

Sep 30, 2022: The funnest part of running for office is…

…talking to the kids!

I was so happy to be invited to Ms Orellana grade 5/6 class at Dorothy Lynas Elementary yesterday. As some of you may know, I was a teacher in a previous career, and being able to talk to kids about the topics I’m most passionate about is extremely rewarding.  We played the “backyard swimming pool permit game,” which illustrates how more people usually get what they want when decision-making is decentralized, instead of centralized.

Thanks to you, I have signs and flyers

Your generous contributions have allowed me to get several signs and a few hundred flyers, thank you! Going door to door dropping off flyers is another campaign activity I really enjoy. If you’d like to join me for that this weekend, I’d be happy to have the company, just let me know when you’re available. And if you’re able to donate to help me buy more, I can accept an e-transfer or cheque, please contact me directly.

Latest blog post

My proposal to mitigate traffic congestion  might not be the most popular idea, but it’s one that can be implemented in the near term, and doesn’t require billions of dollars from higher levels of government. In fact, it should pay for itself.

Events

I’ve been attending events nearly every day this week, from All Candidates Meetings organized by local Community Associations, to mixers organized by private groups like the North Van Chamber, and enjoying the opportunity to share my ideas with voters, and hear theirs. There will be several more events over the next 2 weeks; if you’re
interested in joining me at any, let me know.

Thank you,

Clayton Welwood, candidate for District of North Vancouver Council

Oct 8, 2022: 1 Week Left!

Final Week!

Voting day (Oct 15th) is only a week away. Judging by turnout at events, awareness or interest in the election appears to be low compared to years past. In this blog post I speculate on the reasons behind voter apathy, and how politicians are mostly to blame for this, not voters. In any case, I still have a few days to reach voters with hopeful ideas on citizen and neighbourhood empowerment. I’ve ordered more signs, which I’m putting up this weekend. With the help of my kids, I’ve delivered about 1500 flyers. I get a break from campaign events this weekend, and the weather looks wonderful so I will be going door-to-door flyering all weekend. If you’d like to join me, or help cover the cost of more flyers (I need ~$75 to break even), please let me know!

All Candidates Meetings

This week I attended 3 all candidates meetings hosted by the Lynn Valley, Seymour, and Edgemont Community Associations. Here’s a clip with my response to an audience member who asked what Council can do to engage more directly with citizens. The entire Seymour ACM was professionally recorded, you can view it here.

Hanging with the kids

I was invited to two more schools this week. The students at Lynn Valley Elementary had some great questions. We got down to brass tacks on the idea of road pricing, and they asked pointed questions on how such a system of tolls would work. It’s funny because they seemed to grasp the idea better than most of the adults I’ve spoken to about it. As one Councilor said to me, “it’s a good idea, just 20 years before it’s time.” Well, that’s what’s so uplifting about talking politics with kids; they aren’t jaded yet and they have the ability to consider solutions that are just beyond the horizon.

In the news

The North Shore News has published the answers to questions asked of the candidates, which you can read here. The North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce has done so as well, with questions based on a survey to its members on the most pressing concerns for local businesses; read them here.

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!

Clayton Welwood, candidate for District of North Vancouver Council

Oct 15, 2022: Vote Today!

Election Day

Today’s the day to cast your ballot! If you haven’t already decided who all to vote for (including School Trustees) you can use this helpful non-partisan guide to find out more about the candidates, as well as where you can vote. Select “change municipality” if you’re not in the DNV.

Final Week Wrap-up

Thanks so much to all of you who supported my campaign financially or otherwise. I was able to get a second batch of signs to cover more area. I was also able to get more flyers (about 2000 in total), which I spent much of the week handing out. The excellent weather meant that a lot of people were outside gardening and whatnot, and I was able to have some good conversations with them about development and traffic solutions.

The Lynn Valley Library hosted a great event on Wednesday night called Speed Candi-dating. Candidates were seated in a ring, and voters got 2 minutes with each candidate to get to know their stances on the issues. It allowed for much more interaction than the typical All Candidates Meeting where only 1 person may speak at a time. The library considered it a success, so we hope to see more such innovative events next election.

Blog Posts

Writing on political topics is a hobby I enjoy immensely, and this race gave me reason to delve into some interesting topics, particularly zoning and development, and what their implications are for property rights. Had the campaign been longer, I would have liked to do a post on the concept of unceded territory, and what implications this might have for municipal governments, long-term. My last post was on property taxes, trying to get my head around how much DNV spending and taxes have increased, and how much those have been offset by increases in the assessment base.

Thank you,

Clayton Welwood, candidate for District of North Vancouver Council

Oct 22, 2022: Impact of the Campaign and What’s Next

Election Results

The voters of the District of North Van have spoken, you can see the full results here. With 15,032 ballots cast (about 1/5 of eligible voters) this was not a high-turnout election (an issue I raised in this post). While I did not get a seat on Council, I’m quite happy with and grateful for the 2,471 votes I received. Considering that I spent less than $1000 on my campaign, and was not able to take any time away from my full-time job, I consider this to be a good result.

Impact of the Campaign

More importantly, I believe that my campaign made an impact by adding new ideas to the public conversation on the following topics:

  • Development: The idea of going beyond consultation with existing residents in development decisions by allowing them to choose the Community Amenity Contributions that developers provide.
  • Congestion Pricing: Even though everyone agrees the North Shore has a serious traffic problem, I was the only candidate talking about tolls as a realistic way to limit peak demand on the roads. I’m not wishing for this, but perhaps by next election cycle traffic will be bad enough that more DNV staff, candidates and voters will be willing to consider it.
  • Decentralization: The campaign gave me the opportunity to have dozens of conversations with my fellow citizens about bringing decision-making closer to their level. Whether it be through empowering community associations to decide on minor zoning matters, implementing a ward system to elect Councillors, or conducting referenda on important development matters, people seemed receptive to boosting democracy at the local level. This was very heartening!

What’s Next?

I learned a lot during this campaign, not only about municipal issues, but also about what it would take to win a seat on Council. There were some very good candidates who ran active campaigns years and thousands of dollars in the making, who did not win, so I realize how difficult it is. Involvement in local organizations, particularly the Community Associations is a typical path to municipal office. While I consider whether I’d like to run again in 4 years, my plan is to help re-start the CA for my area (Inter-River), which one of the re-elected Councillors has encouraged me to do. 

I will also continue promoting the idea of political decentralization in all its forms. To that end, I’m in the process of setting up a non-profit organization called Decentralize BC. At this point, it’s just a website under construction, but over the next couple years I hope to build it into a strong voice for local empowerment and decision-making. If you’re interested in joining me on that quest, please let me know!

Thank you,

Clayton Welwood, 2022 candidate for District of North Vancouver Council