And They’re Off

On October 17 Fernie will decide on those who will govern for the next four years. It’s important stuff for any community as it will set the course of the town for not just the next four but the next forty years and beyond. 

At the time of writing two people have declared for the office of Mayor of the City of Fernie. At the same time, I’ve had conversations with people who have asked about the process and whether they should step up for council. I have encouraged all of them to do so. I applaud anyone who puts themselves forward for public office. Service to your community whatever form it takes, whether in public office, working for a nonprofit, or supporting a service club, is always commendable and will be personally gratifying and rewarding. 

So, what to look for in a candidate? 

I know I have written previously about what I think you need for this job and so will likely repeat myself, but it really matters. I will suggest some traits people will view as vague or intangible, but which are fully recognizable indicators of character in the candidate’s demeanor and message.  

The characteristics I will be looking for in candidates: Heart. Compassion. Curiosity. Optimism. Courage. Good critical thinking skills. Great lateral thinking skills. A wholly open mind. The ability to listen to and integrate various points 
of view. Not doctrinaire but intellectually flexible. Inclusive and compassionate, toward everyone in the community and toward the others around the Council table. Ultimately, a desire to make the community a better place.

In my view the ideal candidate approaches every issue without having completely made up their mind. They might have a sense of which way they are leaning but should employ critical thinking and active listening skills in the community and at the table to fully inform their decisions. The candidate arrives fully prepared having read all the meeting materials in advance and so their questions reflect a level of familiarity and understanding. It’s time consuming and intellectually demanding, but the job and the community deserve that kind of commitment and fullness of thought. 

For those who have already served all their meetings are archived and you can go back and see how they performed. It’s a big ask, the meetings are long sometimes and there are lots of them, but a sampling across the four-year term will help you understand whether a serving candidate voted in line with your thinking on various matters or, if they didn’t, did they provide reasons that made sense to you? Did they suitably justify their position even if you disagree? Did they act, in your mind, in the best interest of the community?

It can be hard to parse, so carefully look and listen to the record. Understand if candidates were working to improve our quality of life. If you think their reasoning is out of sync with yours, listen to their conclusions. If they haven’t provided their conclusions, ask them now why they voted the way they did. While it can be daunting, going back through the public record can reveal some surprises about who voted which way on a variety of issues from fairly routine to particularly consequential ones. 

What about candidates’ skin thickness? Recent debates in the public sphere will confirm the need to weather a lot of challenging rhetoric. Candidates need to beware of those, including other candidates, who say that public officials need to toughen up. Those people are asking others to accept more and more abusive behavior. In a recent Walrus article, it was reported that, in 2025, in the annual Canadian Municipal Barometer, 63 percent of the mayors and councilors surveyed said they had experienced some form of harassment in their most recent term or campaign for office (The Walrus, Apr. 23, 2026). It’s not a pretty picture and paints a bleak portrait of the prospects for local government. 

In a community like ours, I continue to believe that decency will win out. That we can focus on the issues, can disagree, and have constructive debate but still respect one another. If not, we will end up with councils that don’t actually care what the community really thinks. Councils that will go about their business entirely deaf to community concerns or listening and reacting only to the loudest voices. That will leave things behind, a lot of good decisions that serve the greater good will be left lying in their wake. 

A positive future relies on candidates and communities that hold the institution of local government as a thing to value in service of a better tomorrow. I recently spoke to an Indigenous leader who said they would stand for election again only if their community “stood them up.” It was an image of support that resonated, deeper even than the idea of votes, it was about a shared belief in their community and that they would all stand together for a better tomorrow.  

Finally, this is a great time to get involved in local government. Run for office because things are going well, there is optimism and excitement for the future of our town. The system is not broken, the City of Fernie is functioning well. There are challenges but the organization is set up to overcome those challenges and is staffed with the right mix of competent people to wrestle even our biggest problems to the ground. If you are thinking of running, run to join a success story and provide your steady hand to help steer the community to the bright future we deserve. Optimists unite! 
And, while it shouldn’t need saying, on October 17 vote! @email