A teacher, an Olympic rower and a two-term MLA will battle for the right to represent Saanich South in the May 9 provincial election.
Dave Calder, who won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, is expected to be acclaimed as the B.C. Liberal candidate Thursday.
He will carry his party’s colours into the campaign against incumbent NDP MLA Lana Popham and B.C. Green Party candidate Mark Neufeld.
Interestingly, Calder campaigned for Popham in the last provincial election and served on her riding executive for about a year before letting his NDP membership lapse.
He joined the Liberals within the past couple of months and hopes to give residents of the riding a voice in government, he said. “I think that Saanich South has had a member in Opposition for the last 12 years,” he said.
“I think that the role that Lana has filled has been admirable and I continue to have a lot of respect for her. But I would like to see the MLA for Saanich South being a member of government and seeing how that can impact our community in a better way.”
Popham welcomed Calder to the race and wished him well before joking about her connections to both him and Neufeld, who taught her son at school. “I give myself credit and I say that I must have trained these people well,” she said, laughing.
“This election is definitely more interesting for me personally in Saanich South than it has been.”
Popham was first elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, defeating the Liberals by about 2,700 votes and the Greens by nearly 8,000.
She said she treats every campaign as if it were a close race and this one will be no different.
“I campaign very, very hard and I’m a very hands-on MLA. I keep in touch with my constituents over my term by door-knocking throughout the four years.”
She‘ll face a stiff challenge from her opponents.
Neufeld, one of the founders of the Institute for Global Solutions at Claremont secondary school, is well known in the riding, having taught there for the better part of 25 years.
He said in an interview that he has “a ton of respect” for Popham and has heard good things about Calder. So he’s hoping for a respectful campaign that focuses on issues and policy.
“It‘s going to be fascinating,‘‘ he said. ‘‘I would love to believe that Saanich South will be this bellwether riding for people who are actually arguing about policy and having debates where there‘s a lot of kindness involved.‘‘
Calder, an administrator and coach at St. Michaels University School Community Rowing Centre, expressed a similar sentiment. “I feel like a lot of people in the community think very highly of Mark,‘‘ he said. ‘‘Obviously, a lot of people in the community think very highly of Lana.
“My hope is that the three of us will have a lot of respect for each other and it will increase the dialogue throughout the community and that’s always good, right?”
lkines@timescolonist
