Oak Bay Municipal Elections

Homes for Living is a volunteer organization focused on improving housing afffordability and availability for people across Greater Victoria. The rankings are based on housing track records, public statements on housing, platforms, and replies to our housing survey. Rankings DO NOT represent a political endorsement and voters are encouraged to do their own research. The data pertains exclusively to housing, those interested in other issues should consider information provided by other organizations and research candidates independently.

Despite being surrounded by major employment, educational, and cultural centers, Oak Bay municipal government’s record on construction and forwarding development proposals to public hearing has lagged significantly behind Victoria, Saanich, and Esquimalt.

As a result, Oak Bay has only seen four new housing units voted upon at public hearing during the current term; by contrast, Esquimalt, which has a similar population and geographic size, has seen roughly 1,500 new housing units voted upon at public hearing during the current term. The evaluations below attempt to capture these nuances and features unique to Oak Bay. As such, we have included how incumbents voted on projects that did not make it to public hearing including proposals at 2326 Oak Bay Avenue (14 condos) and 713 Patrick Street (6 rentals).

Note that Oak Bay had fewer pro-housing candidates than council seats.

For Mayor

• Kevin Murdoch - Kevin Murdoch is acclaimed as the only mayoral candidate running.  Kevin Murdoch has a mixed record on housing. He voted in favour of moving forward with the Infill Housing Strategy and voted in favour of legalizing secondary suites. He also voted in favour of most building projects which came before council at either public hearing or at the various steps needed prior to the public hearing phase. Kevin is acclaimed as he is the only mayoral candidate running in the Oak Bay election. He did not fill out the housing survey and his campaign website lacks a housing platform.

For Council

• Andrew Appleton - Andrew Appleton has a strong record on housing. His survey response indicated wide ranging support for a variety of housing measures. He also voted in favour of moving forward with the Infill Housing Strategy and voted in favour of legalizing secondary suites. He has voted in favour of most building projects which came before council at either public hearing or at the various steps needed prior to the public hearing stage. His platform indicates housing as a priority for him but is short on specifics.
• Lesley Watson - Lesley Watson has a strong position on housing. Her answers to the housing survey were detailed and demonstrated broad support for a variety of housing solutions available to the local government. Her platform scored highest amongst Oak Bay candidates. She has many public statements in favour of housing solutions including op-eds and on social media. She also spoke in favour of moving forward with Oak Bay’s Infill Housing Strategy and praised council’s decision on secondary suites.
• Carrie Smart - Carrie Smart has a strong position on housing. Her housing survey reply was the most comprehensive of candidates who completed the questionnaire. Her platform is vague on specific policy reforms but recognizes the need for Oak Bay to build more housing and understands the overlap between housing, climate resiliency, and vibrant neighbourhoods. She has made pro-housing comments on her social media feeds and spoke in favour of moving forward with Oak Bay’s Infill Housing Strategy.

Scoring

Note that there is a different weighting for incumbent councillors vs new candidates since we are able to use more data points (notably their voting record) for incumbents. See the detailed methodology or the summary below.

The total score is the summation of individual sub scores defined below:
Housing Reform Score - A score for incumbents' voting record on key housing reforms. In Oak Bay this included the legalization of suites and progressing the Oak Bay Infill Housing Strategy.
Vote Tracker Score - A score for incumbents representing their voting records for individual housing projects at public hearing (and two significant projects at other council hearings for Oak Bay).
Survey Score - A score for all candidates representing the total points given for the answers on the Homes for Living survey.
Platform Score - A score given to all candidates on the quality and content of their housing platform.
Public Statements - A score for new candidates given for public comments on housing.

Scores and rankings were assembled by volunteers carefully reviewing data and public information on candidates' positions and records on housing. Spot a mistake?  Email us to have it reviewed.