
Calvin Vaandrager is hoping to earn enough votes in the November 9 municipal election to win a seat on Corman Park council representing Division 7.
Vaandrager and his wife have operated a 100-cow dairy farm near Langham for the past 16 years.
Vaandrager said he decided to run for council after receiving encouragement from his neighbours. “I felt it was time for me to give back to the community,” said Vaandrager. “Corman Park is a dynamic RM with some of the most valuable land in the province. It’s a great place to live and work, and I’d like to help guide the RM as we go into the future.”
Vaandrager said roads and infrastructure are always a major concern for ratepayers. Other topics that have come up in his disscusions with people in the division are the rise in property crime and the need for better communication between council and property owners.
“The roads in this area were never built for the kind of heavy traffic we’re seeing these days,” said Vaandrager. “There needs to be a long-range plan to upgrade the roads. It obviously can’t be done all at once, but even a little bit at a time will make a difference.”
Vaandrager said he would like to find ways of improving communication to ratepayers, not just within the division, but across the RM.
“The RM has a ratepayers meeting once a year, but often that meeting is not well attended and people question whether anything comes out of it. What we should have, perhaps, are division meetings on a regular basis throughout the year, or some other way of communicating on a more personal level so people’s concerns are heard and brought back to council.”
Vaandrager said land use conflicts are to be expected in a diverse RM like Corman Park. But, he added, the recent passage by Corman Park council of a bylaw regulating intensive livestock operations (ILOs) is a step forward in resolving conflicts before they arise.
“There needs to be a balancing of interests,” said Vaandrager. “I think the ILO bylaw could be a model for other RMs across the province.”