Canal Flats, like other municipalities, is set for a change in its council lineup after the coming municipal election, with several long-serving village politicians stepping down, a couple incumbents running again, and a bunch of fresh faces trying their luck as first-time candidates.

In fact, the scenario in Canal Flats is almost exactly as it is in Radium: both villages have a current mayor who has served multiple terms on council (as both mayor and councillor) but is retiring, an incumbent councillor is running to replace the current mayor but who will be challenged in the mayoral election by somebody new to village politics, and a councillor election race consisting of one incumbent councillor seeking a second term and a slate of brand new candidates. The only difference is that in Radium, five candidates are running for the four councillor seats, while Canal Flats voters get a little more choice with seven candidates running for four councillor seats.

Outgoing Canal Flats mayor, Karl Sterzer, is not running for re-election. Incumbent councillor Doug McCutcheon is running to replace him, but he squares off in the mayoral race against local resident Mark Doherty. Incumbent councillors Marie Delorme and Kimberley Swerdferger are not running again, but incumbent councillor Bill Lake is seeking a second term as councillor. Lake is joined in the councillor race by new candidates Dennis Babin, Anora Kobza, Jennifer Noble, Patricia Reed, Justin Stanbury and Cody McKersie.

Sterzer is hanging up his hat after seven years on the job with village council (the past four as mayor, and three years before that as councillor). Those seven years been among the most eventful in Canal Flats history, with the sawmill that was long the village’s economic mainstay (and by far its largest employer) shutting down permanently in 2015.

Over the past four years the council headed by Sterzer, has pursued efforts to try to help the village recover from losing its lifeblood industry by attracting new residents (Canal Flats’ population was 1,300 in the 1970s, but had shrunk to about 600 six years ago), and attracting new commercial enterprise. This drive resulted in several new projects around the village, including a new medical clinic, beginning construction on a day care facility, starting the Shore to Shore Pathway, revamping the Canal Flats Lions Park, and commissioning the village’s first ever public art sculpture. In early 2018 new technology and data processing business, PodTech Innovations Inc., began operations in the old mill site. And the 2021 census showed significant growth in Canal Flats’ population for the first time in decades, with the number of residents surging 20 per cent from 600 (in the 2016 census) to 800 (in the 2021 census). Canal Flats council outlined its desire to see the population grow to 1,000.

These changes were often praised by some locals, but were also often met with concern from other residents, who openly worried about changing the character of the small village too much.

This schism — those enthusiastic about change and those cautious about it — is reflected in the diversity of candidates running for council this year. The question of which direction the village should take as it heads into the future will be up for vote, not just in terms of which candidates village residents choose, but also in the form a plebiscite question that will be on the election ballot.

The question will gauge local opinion on the latest of the village’s planned new projects, asking voters:

‘Do you support the Village of Canal Flats retaining the services of a professional to design and investigate the costs associated with construction of a new community hall?’

McCutcheon is running to replace Sterzer as mayor, and explained to the Pioneer that he’s doing so because he wants to see the village move forward in a positive direction.

McCutcheon is semi-retired engineer. He and his partner bought their home in Canal Flats in 2003 and moved to the village permanently in 2010. But his connection to the Columbia Valley goes back to regular visits to Fairmont Hot Springs as a kid (his family had a timeshare), starting in the 1950s. He spent 30 years working as a chemical engineer in the Edmonton area, then became a professor at the University of Alberta for more than a decade before retiring to Canal Flats. In 2018, he ran successfully for a councillor seat.

“When the mill closed, circumstances were bleak, but with the help of the province and a business benefactor…the village has gotten off to a good start (to post-mill existence),” McCutcheon told the Pioneer. “We’ve got into quite a few projects, which have been funded overwhelmingly by grants instead of by taxpayers. 

And this has been noticed and received well by the citizens of Canal Flats.”

McCutcheon said he heard that Sterzer would not be running again in 2022 and also heard that a number of candidates keen to slow down the recent growth would step forward to run for council.

“That caught me by surprise. I felt that if I didn’t run, the people of Canal Flats would not have a choice to vote for a candidate who wants to keep moving toward a higher population with more commercial and industrial activity,” he told the Pioneer. “So I’ve put my name forward, and voters have that option. I think we have a good plan to develop a fine community. We’ll find out what citizens want at the election.”

Doherty is McCutcheon’s rival to become the next mayor of Canal Flats. He was raised in the village, and worked in the sawmill for many years, and also is a financial planner. When he’s not busy with work, he loves to golf and enjoy the great outdoors around the village, particularly going hunting with his daughter, neighbour and grandkids.

“I grew up in this town. I see what’s going on. I think we need more industry coming into Canal Flats. One of our main problems is that we don’t have enough housing in Canal Flats, but it’s got to be affordable housing,” Doherty told the Pioneer. “I love the ambience here. I like the small town style, with community minded people.”

Lake is another councillor candidate who was born and raised right in Canal Flats. After graduating from David Thompson Secondary School (DTSS) in 1977, he went straight into the forestry industry. He stayed in that career for 38 years, until the sawmill shut in 2015. He has also been a part-time paramedic for nearly 30 years. In the first 22 of those years his paramedic work was based in Invermere and starting in 2015, it was based out of Cranbrook. He also teaches industrial first aid at the College of the Rockies.

“I went into local politics four years ago because I wanted to see the community move forward. I am running again because I want to see the community continue to move forward,” Lake told the Pioneer. “I want Canal Flats to become a place where you don’t have to go to Invermere to go shopping, or to Cranbrook just to go to a pharmacy.”

Lake cited studies that found that if small communities have populations of 1,000 or more they can — with the right decisions — become self-sustaining.

“We’re now over 800. We’re approaching that 1,000. I want to see us become self-sustainable. I want to keep our school. I want to keep our seniors in place.”

Stanbury has lived in Canal Flats for 23 years, and he is already well known to many village residents as co-owner of the Family Pantry grocery stores in Canal Flats and Windermere. He’s also the owner of EZ Mode Audio/Visual Ltd., which offers sound system and control system services. He has raised five kids in Canal Flats and he’s proud that they’ve all attended the local Martin Morigeau Elementary School.

“I have a lot invested in the community, and I would really like to have it be a place where families can still comfortably settle, and where retirees want to come,” Stanbury told the Pioneer. “Commercial entities here have struggled. I want to promote some commercial growth to improve the employment situation and provide services for local residents.”

Babin first moved to Canal Flats in 1968, and lived on and off in the village and in Wasa until the mid-1970s. He then moved up north to the Yukon for 23 years and lived in other northern communities before returning to Canal Flats a decade ago. He was a big game guide throughout B.C., Alberta, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories for 32 years, while working as an equipment operator in camps during the hunting off-season.

Although this is his first run at Canal Flats council, he was previously a councillor in Faro, Yukon and in Slave Lake, Alberta.

“I’m semi-retired now, so I have more time,” he said of his decision to run for Canal Flats council. “I was on council in Faro when its mine shut down, so I know what it’s like to rebuild a town. I’ve heard a lot of complaints from residents about how that’s being done here, how some people seem to be trying to steer Canal Flats in a new direction. It doesn’t seem like it’s working. But rather than just talk against what’s happening, I’d like to try to find some solutions. A lot of people are disgruntled. We need to get back to being a place where people wave at each other instead of looking the other way when they meet in town.”

Babin said that if he’s elected to council, there are about a half dozen bylaws he would like to see the village revisit, including one disallowing C-cans, and one that sets a minimum square footage for homes.

“If there’s no cap on maximum size for homes, there shouldn’t be a minimum size either, especially if we are trying to reduce our carbon footprint,” Babin told the Pioneer.

Kobza’s roots in Canal Flats go back 80 years, when her family immigrated to the village from the Czech Republic, and she has spent almost all her life living in the village. She works as an electrician at Iris Energy.

“I want to be a voice for Canal Flats. Hopefully we can see some good changes for the town,” Kobza told the Pioneer.

Noble is the finance manager at PodTech, and is also the chief financial officer for the Columbia Lake Technology Centre in Canal Flats. Prior to that she was an accounting manager at Copper Medical Supplies.

“As a resident of Canal Flats, I care about its future. I am fortunate to live, work and play in our beautiful community. With a strong understanding of business and finance I will work to ensure accountability and transparency for residents of this community,” said Noble. “I care about helping people and want to see everyone thriving, with a place to live and work. I want to hear concerns and celebrations and work together to keep Canal Flats a place we can be proud to call home.”

Reed is another candidate born in the valley and raised in Canal Flats. She’s lived here more than 30 years, and currently works in healthcare (having switched careers during the COVID-19 pandemic). Before that she held administrative, supervisory, and management roles.

“What can I say — I love my hometown. Canal flats has been a great place to see my children grow and I’m very thankful to be part of the small town friendly atmosphere,” said Reed. “In the last few years, I have engaged my interest in the political aspects of our village and believe that my experience will be an asset to our council and village in day-to-day operations, as well as during the village budgeting process.”

The Pioneer was unable to reach McKersie for comment, despite multiple calls and emails to the phone number registered with B.C. Local Elections and the email address provided by McKersie to the village office for elections purposes.

An eighth candidate — Allan Gauthier — submitted a nomination as a Canal Flats candidate prior to the deadline, but later withdrew his nomination and will not be participating in the election.