In advance of the upcoming municipal elections, the Martlet hit the ground to ask UVic students what they’d ask a mayoral candidate
Photo by Sabina Mendoza.
On Oct. 17, municipalities across B.C. will be hitting the polls, electing new or returning mayors and councillors. This means UVic students who are eligible to vote will have the opportunity to engage in the democratic process and ensure their voice is heard.
For the fourth time in a row, the Vic Theatre is hosting the mayoral debate for City of Victoria candidates on Sept. 27, prior to the elections. In light of this, the Martlet decided to ask UVic students, “What would you ask a mayoral candidate?”
Olivia Druxerman, a first year master’s student, said she is not yet well acquainted with Victoria, but is keen to know about recreational programming. She said she would ask a mayoral candidate: “how do you plan to improve … or integrate recreational programming?”
As B.C. faces housing shortages across the province and as student housing projects have faced delays, housing supply was a recurring theme amongst students.
First year business student Hana Nozawa said she is particularly interested in how city officials plan to increase housing in an affordable way. Nozawa is from the Langford area, and said she has seen an increase of residents in Langford and Victoria.
“[I’m curious] what their housing situation would be, and what they plan on doing to increase housing, just because we’re students and then looking into our futures, we need to make sure that there is an affordable way for us to live,” she said.
Similarly, Tadakadzwa Pswarayi, a third year mechanical engineering student, wonders how the needs of new residents would be met in Victoria.
“Since Victoria’s getting a lot of new people moving to the city from different provinces, different countries — how would the mayor [work] to make sure that the new people coming in are catered to. Because things need to change from what Victoria looked like ten years ago to now, since there’s more diverse groups coming in.”
When it comes to transit around the Greater Victoria area, Vojtech Tobola, a third year history student, said he would ask about the transit system’s current ability to serve individuals living in and around Victoria well.
“I think I’d ask about the transit situation in Victoria and the surrounding regions. Because it’s really, really difficult to get around the greater Victoria area. It’s very time consuming. Even [in] North Saanich to get to the ferries, it’s quite a time consuming trip … I feel like the transit system that’s currently in place isn’t really adequate to the demands of the amount of people that are in … and around Victoria,” he said.
Sabrina Cain, a first year social sciences student, said she was more concerned about student experiences. “I would … ask what they would do to make changes to better the student life. I guess, I’m not too sure,” she said.
Second year mechanical engineering student Tristan S. Shanks said he wants to know more about the municipal budget.
“How do they ensure that they’re fully utilizing the full budget to support as many people as possible?”
Housing issues, affordability, UVic life, and transit are just some of the issues UVic students are apprehensive about heading into the October elections.
Voting for the 2026 local general elections will be held on Oct. 17. The elections will include voting for new mayors and councillors, regional district directors, school board trustees, parks boards, and the Islands Trust. More information on this year’s local general elections can be found at elections.bc.ca.
