Bill Beamish is the new mayor of Gibsons.
Beamish won a commanding victory, taking 1,347 votes; his closest challenger, Blake MacLeod won just 200 according to Civicinfo BC.
Incumbent councillor Stafford Lumley was re-elected, and will be joined by newcomers Aleria Ladwig, David Croal and Annemarie De Andrade.
Below is the full list of mayoral and councillor candidates in Gibsons.
Candidates
Mayor
Blake MacLeod
Bill Beamish
William Moysey
Leslie Thomson
Council
Bill Beamish
Carol J Doyle
Aleria A Ladwig
Angie D August
Verna P Chan
David A Croal
Annemarie De Andrade
Stafford D Lumley (incumbent)
Suzanne L Senger
Boundary
Gibsons is located on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, right across the Shoal Channel from Keats Island. It’s accessed via a ferry trip from Horseshoe Bay.
Population (2016)
4,605
History
The Squamish Nation was first to the Gibsons area, setting up a fishing village north of Gibsons Landing that was known as “Chek-welp.”
The village was abandoned after outbreaks of smallpox.
Ex-British naval officer George Gibson was the first European settler to the area. He established a homestead and asked others to follow him and build a community there.
Easier access to Gibsons came via the Union Steamship Company, starting in 1891.
Logging would become an industry in the area, and when that didn’t produce enough to support people, residents would turn to subsistence agriculture.
They would practise “stump farming,” which involved blasting tree stumps out of the groud to create land that could be farmed.
Gibsons would continue to grow with ferry service through the mid-20th century and it hasn’t stopped since then.
It served as the filming location for the long-running TV series “The Beachcombers.”
Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median
$96,341/$111,736
Political representation
Federal
Pamela Goldsmith-Jones (Liberal)
Provincial
Nicholas Simons (BC NDP)
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