Running for Council
Thinking of running for office? You will find useful information here:
What Every Candidate Needs to Know
Foundational Principles of Responsible Conduct
The Candidate’s Guide to Local Elections
Reasons why you should run for Council:
- You care about your Community!
- You want to bring perspectives of your demographic to the decision-making table.
- You have new ideas that could benefit your community.
- You want to make a positive difference in the quality of life in your community.
What knowledge and skills are required to be an elected official?
It is not necessary to have education or experience in a government setting to run for Council. However, these attributes are important:
- Excellent communications skills
- Involvement in the community (volunteering)
- Ability to organize and prioritize
- Excellent problem-solving skills
- Diplomacy
- Ability to work as part of a team
- Ability to make impartial decisions based on information, fairness and value, despite personal feelings, for the betterment of the entire community
It will also be useful to understand:
- Government structure, governing bodies and their roles and procedures
- Rules guiding council meetings
- How to interact with the community as a council member
- Village documents (Official Community Plan, Annual Report, Asset Management Plan, Five Year Financial Plan, Annual Tax Rates etc.)
- How to interact with other governments and with media
Any Canadian citizen who is eligible to vote in the Province of British Columbia is qualified to run for election as a Council member unless he or she:
- works for the Village of Pemberton or the Squamish Lillooet Regional District (unless a leave of absence is taken to run and the person agrees to resign if elected);
- is a Federal public service employee (unless prior permission has been granted by the Public Service Commission of Canada);
- is a Provincial Court, Supreme Court or Court of Appeal judge;
- has been convicted of an indictable offence and is in custody;
- is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric or other institution; OR
- has been disqualified under the Community Charter or Local Government Act or any law in force in British Columbia (e.g. guilty of an election offence, failing to file a campaign financing disclosure statement, etc.).
Elections BC maintains the List of Disqualified Candidates. Click here for more information
Candidates do not need to live or own property in the Village.
Candidate Nomination Packages will be available for download closer to the nomination period.
Resources for those running for Council:
- Thinking of Running for Local Office?
- Candidate's Guide to Local Elections in BC
- Elector Organization Guide to Local Elections in BC
- Guide to Local Elections Campaign Financing