God knows the folks who think Toronto really is the center of the universe (they apparently don’t get that we’re mocking them when we say that) won’t care about this tiny story of my town, a relatively tiny south-west ‘burb of Vancouver, the actual center of the universe, Delta, British Columbia (pop 100,000) and its recent civic election on the weekend.
No, it’s not the biggest liberal mainstream media story of the year. The one about Michael Ignatieff’s and Jack Layton’s thoughts on, well, anything, obviously is. No, here, just one city councilor seat was up for grabs in Delta because of the death of the former seat holder. But it is just possible that the election here has some small implications and lessons for other candidates and for voters in other elections.
I made a reference to this election campaign the other day, lamenting on how one candidate, a former federal Conservative Party candidate for the federal riding of North Delta named Sandeep Pandher, was ruining my sleep and that of my neighbors because of his obnoxious civic campaign sign erections 
in which his team constructed — and then repaired — campaign signs smack in the middle of the night, contravening not just our town’s noise bylaws, but also irritating and insulting families, neighborhoods, and our community. His campaign sign’s catchy slogan, why of course it was “families neighborhoods, community.”
ELECTION RESULT:
• Sandeep Pandher, the former failed Conservative Party candidate: came in a distant fourth, it turns out, despite his considerable name recognition and likely a lot of support garnered from his previous run for office. And Delta— at least south Delta, is very strongly Conservative, federally, and has been for years).
• There was also a former provincial Liberal Party candidate, also with name recognition and likely a lot of financial support from Liberals and liberals. She came in a distant third.
• There was another failed candidate, a former BC teachers’ union (which seems to me a pretty much Marxist organization) employee who ran for the socialist you’ve got to be kidding party provincially, and has worked on their executive, and who obviously had tons of backing — probably more than any other candidate as judged by the fact she seemed to have the most newspaper ads and campaign signs, likely financed and supplied by the NDP’s usual suspects: socialists, unionists, the far-left workers in government, the teachers union, and nanny-state big-government progressives generally. She came in second (yeah, be afraid — be very afraid).
For the folks who work at the National Post: that’s hay that he’s sitting on, and surrounded by, in the photo. I know! What a country bumpkin hick! Hope he never runs for federal office! Looks like an “extremist”! The man who won was a candidate not affiliated with any party. A cowboy-hat-wearin’ farmer named Ian Paton whom I’d never heard of until a couple weeks ago. An independent who ran on the platform of speaking up for the little guy, the farmer, the folks, and wants to encourage businesses to come to Delta. So naturally I voted for him.
Worried that he lacks political and governing experience? Not so much. That’s a plus. And obviously not just for me.
Paton elected to Delta Council
…Paton said his first order of business was to learn the ropes of municipal council and “try to be the best representative as possible.”
“This is my first time in politics and went into this with no further aspirations,” he said. “I hope to be a good listener and fit in wherever I can with comments and ideas.” … “Delta really needs to keep and improve its services, and we have to pay for it,” he said. “Hopefully new development in Tilbury will bring new businesses to Delta.”
—South Delta Leader
What kind of politics and political ideology does Paton subscribe to? I’m not even sure. These things aren’t spoken of in most civic elections around here. He hits a lot of the right notes like “bring new businesses to Delta”, and so on, but I don’t doubt that he’s as politically progressive (read: big-government. left-leaning and possibly even socialist — no, I no longer put that possibility past anybody, any more, as I watch Conservative after Conservative spend our money, grow government, and increase the role of government and its control over us, and stymie free markets) as all the other political candidates for any office are, these days.
But this election does help bolster the case for all those “unknown” candidates out there, who, against all odds and the prognostications of all the political gurus and pundits and geniuses, can run outside the parameters of big established party machines, and against all of the name-recognized, party-establishment candidates, and beat them at their own, horrible game.
So have at it, actual conservatives. We’ll be here for you.
EXTRA SELF IMPORTANT TORONTO
I’m not totally stupid. I know Toronto’s upcoming election is important. Fine. But the National Post couldn’t find room for any of the news here in Delta, neither throughout the election, nor today after the election. They do have another few thousand words devoted to the Toronto election campaign. The “National” Post can’t stop writing about Toronto’s civic election. The NatPo doesn’t get that they’re actually boring the bejesus out of us, to say nothing of the fact that they’re demonstrating more of that tired old big-city snobbery and its sibling, that typical failure or refusal to grasp the importance of smaller-town Canada. Taken together, small-town Canada is far bigger than Toronto. So no, I’m not the one who is completely stupid.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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