The two biggest votes of this term each passed by a single vote. On October 17, you decide who casts the next ones.
Four to three. That’s how North Saanich adopted its Official Community Plan (OCP) in July 2025. It’s also how the Officers Bylaw passed in May 2026, handing the CAO authority over senior staff that council used to hold.
Every divided vote from October 2024 to August 2026 is now public in the North Saanich Council Roll Call, checked against the District’s minutes. Here’s what it shows.
Two votes, two camps
The OCP. After fourteen months of review, council adopted it on July 14, 2025, four votes to three. McClintock opposed it at every reading. DiBattista and Stock also voted no.
The Officers Bylaw. Council voted it down in December 2025. The mayor brought it back, and on May 29 it passed four to three, cutting the District’s officers from seven to three.
What changed since December? The mayor wouldn’t say, the Peninsula News Review reported in June.
| Council member | OCP, July 2025 | Officers Bylaw, May 2026 | On the October 17 ballot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kristine Marshall | Yes | No | Council, North Saanich Strong |
| Irene McConkey | Yes | No | Council, North Saanich Strong |
| Sanjiv Shrivastava | Yes | No | Council, North Saanich Strong |
| Peter Jones, mayor | Yes | Yes | Mayor |
| Jack McClintock | No | Yes | Mayor |
| Phil DiBattista | No | Yes | Council |
| Celia Stock | No | Yes | Not running |
Read it across. Marshall, McConkey and Shrivastava voted for the OCP and against the Officers Bylaw. McClintock, DiBattista and Stock did the opposite, both times.
The mayor voted yes to both. And the two camps sit far apart: McClintock and Shrivastava agreed on just 14 per cent of the divided votes they both cast, McClintock and McConkey and Marshall agrees on 20% and 33% respectively.
What’s at stake
The OCP means growth on North Saanich’s terms. It sends most new density to the McTavish Road area and is built to keep the District’s character.
The province wants different terms. Its housing adviser, real estate firm CBRE, recommends up to six storeys where infrastructure allows, an extended urban containment boundary and smaller lots. When the OCP was adopted, DiBattista said it wouldn’t meet the province’s housing targets.
Power is moving away from the people you elect. The Officers Bylaw took the power to discipline senior staff from council and gave it to the CAO. The adviser also wants staff, not council, approving minor variances, and a smaller role for the community planning advisory committee on development applications.
The zoning bylaw is next. It’s the rulebook that puts the OCP into practice, and it’s being rewritten now. The province wants it to allow smaller lots, less parking, and more suites, duplexes and carriage houses.
OCP or province. Council or CAO. One keeps it North Saanich. The other is the road to Langford North.
Now it’s your vote
Six of the seven who cast those votes are on the ballot.
For mayor: Felice Mazzoni, the planner who led the OCP, running with North Saanich Strong. McClintock, who opposed the OCP at every reading. Jones, who voted for the OCP, then brought back the Officers Bylaw.
For council: Marshall, McConkey and Shrivastava, running together with North Saanich Strong. DiBattista, who voted the other way both times.
Council was set to consider adopting the new zoning bylaw in early October, days before the election. Then September’s information sessions, billed as residents’ final chance to comment, were postponed.
At the all-candidates meeting on Tuesday, October 6 (7 p.m., Saanich Peninsula Presbyterian Church), ask every candidate two questions. Will you keep the OCP as adopted? Will you write the zoning bylaw to match it?
Four to three built the OCP. Four to three can rewrite it.
Advance voting: Wednesday, October 7 and Wednesday, October 14. General voting: Saturday, October 17. In-person voting runs 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at North Saanich Municipal Hall, 1620 Mills Rd.
