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Patricia Pearson wins North Saanich council byelection

Patricia Pearson has defeated seven other candidates to win the byelection for a seat on North Saanich council.
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Patricia Pearson has been elected councillor for North Saanich, according to preliminary results.

Patricia Pearson has defeated seven other candidates to win the byelection for a seat on North Saanich council.

Pearson received 836 votes to edge second-place finisher Del Elgersma by 94 votes, according to preliminary results posted on the district’s website.

Dorothy Hartshorne, who lost the mayoral race to Geoff Orr last October, finished in third spot with 374 votes. Voter turnout was about 26 per cent.

Pearson, who works for Level Ground Trading, a fair-trade coffee company, said she first plans to get some sleep and spend time with her husband and two-year-old daughter before getting down to work.

“They’ve been just hanging on without me while I’m out door-knocking and campaigning,” she said. “So I just want to spend sometime with them and then get to work because first council meeting is on the 15th.”

Pearson said she’s looking forward to working on the official community plan, putting climate-change action plans in place and getting things happening on the Sandown lands.

“I know that residents have been waiting for that to get underway for a long time,” she said.

Pearson’s victory fills the seat left vacant when Joscelyn Barnard stepped aside shortly after the 2018 municipal election.

lkines@timescolonist.com

Preliminary results

Patricia Pearson — 836

Del Elgersma — 742

Dorothy Hartshorne — 374

Aurturo Huerta — 231

Tiffany Joseph — 167

Cam McLennan — 97

Scott McEachern — 29

Rosemarie (Romi) Bongers — 17