Incumbent Leslie Baird will be back for another term as the mayor of Cumberland.
Baird easily defeated challenger Eduardo Uranga 1,138 votes to 229.
Three incumbent councillors will be back for another term: Jesse Ketler, Gwyn Sproule and Sean Sullivan. They will be joined by newcomer Vickey Brown.
Below is the full list candidates for mayor and council in Cumberland.
Mayoral Candidates
Leslie Baird
Eduardo Uranga
Council Candidates
Vickey Brown
Jesse A Ketler
Roger Kishi
Eric Krejci
Ian McLean
Gwyn Sproule
Sean Sullivan
Boundary
Cumberland is located in the Comox Valley on the east side of Vancouver Island. It’s just under 15 kilometres from the town of Comox and just under 10 kilometres from Courtenay. Cumberland is also a short distance from Comox Lake.
Population (2016)
3,753
History
The Comox Valley was first occupied by the K’omoks First Nation, who lived there long before European settlers arrived in 1862.
The settlers liked the valley’s natural harbour, as well as its abundant forest, coal and fresh water.
Coal baron Robert Dunsmuir founded the settlement of Cumberland in 1888, and it was named after miners from Cumbria, a coal-mining district in England.
Plenty of coal mining took place in Cumberland from 1888 to 1966, and there were numerous mishaps along the way, including explosions and fires.
As mining activity died off, so too, it appeared, would Cumberland.
It stopped being a city, but it remained as a small community.
Over the years, heritage buildings have been preserved and old homes renovated.
If you visit, you’ll also find tributes to its history as a mining hub.
Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median
$99,008/$111,736
Political representation
Federal
Gord Johns (NDP)
Provincial
Scott Fraser (BC NDP)
- Feature photo used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence.