Ucluelet has its first Noel in the mayor’s office. Mayco Noel was elected mayor with 356 votes, beating out three challengers, according to CivicInfo BC.
Newcomers Lara Kemps, Rachelle Cole and Jennifer Hoar were voted in as councillors, along with incumbent Marilyn McEwen.
Below is the full list of mayoral and councillor candidates in Ucluelet.
Candidates
Mayor
Kevin J Cortes
Bill R Irving
Mayco J Noel
Randy A Oliwa
Council
Courtney K Johnson
Jeff J Anderson
Ted N Bailey
Rachelle R Cole
Jennifer A Hoar
Andy D Horne
Lara K Kemps
Marilyn M McEwen (incumbent)
Myles L Morrison
Jesse J Wilts
Boundary
Ucluelet is a community on the west coast of Vancouver Island, about 40 kilometres from Tofino.
Population (2016)
1,717
History
The word “Ucluelet” means “people with a safe place to land.”
British Navy Capt. James Cook first landed on Vancouver Island about 100 kilometres north of Ucluelet in 1778. Just under nine years later, Capt. James Barkley would arrive near there as he sought sea otter pelts.
Fur traders would settle in Ucluelet in 1870, and a community started to grow.
The first contact happened between Europeans and First Nations in the 1890s. More settlers came as fishing and gold were reported in Florencia Bay.
A whole fishing industry would be established by the time the First World War began.
With the Second World War came efforts by the Government of Canada to shore up its defences along Vancouver Island’s west coast; that included a seaplane base in Ucluelet and a land base in Long Beach.
It was around this time that the road to Tofino was finished. A road to Port Alberni would open in 1959.
Ucluelet was incorporated in 1952, and it became a district in 1997.
Median after-tax income of households (2015)/B.C. median
$97,792/$111,736
Political representation
Federal
Gord Johns (NDP)
Provincial
Scott Fraser (BC NDP)