A new chapter for North Saanich as John McClintock wins mayoral race

North Saanich has a new mayor, and voters made their choice pretty clear!

John McClintock has been elected mayor of North Saanich, securing 65.4% of the vote in Saturday’s municipal election.

McClintock received 2,907 votes, comfortably ahead of Felice Mazzoni, who finished with 1,295 votes (29.1%). Peter Jones rounded out the mayoral race with 244 votes (5.5%).

Meanwhile, six councillors have also secured their seats at the council table.

Isabella Burnes led the council race with 2,810 votes, followed by John MacKinnon (2,669), James Woolford (2,657), Brian Robinson (2,372), Phillip DiBattista (2,308) and Walter Langer (2,271).

Kristine Marshall, Greg Warner and Sanjiv Shrivastava were among the candidates who fell short of securing a council seat.

Former mayor Peter Jones was elected mayor in 2022 after then-mayor Geoff Orr decided not to seek re-election, and this was Jones’s first attempt to secure a second mayoral term.

North Saanich has experienced a particularly contentious council term, as a major development this week was the termination of mayoral candidate Felice Mazzoni from his position as the district’s director of planning and community services.

This is not out of the norm as the municipality has seen its fair share of political debate in recent years.

Questions around housing, development and protecting the district’s rural and agricultural lands have been front and centre, with residents expressing different ideas about what the community’s future should look like.

This election also saw the creation of ‘North Saanich Strong’, which is a group backing five candidates with a focus on responsible governance, fiscal accountability and protecting the district’s unique character.