Lifelong Saanich resident pitches new direction in council bid

‘You have to work with people and that’s critical to success’: Saanich council candidate Lorne DeLarge

Lifelong Saanich resident pitches new direction in council bid Published 3:30 pm Friday, July 17, 2026 After spending most of his life in Saanich, one council candidate says he knows the municipality well enough to recognize when it is headed in the wrong direction. A graduate of the University of Victoria, where he studied economics and political science, Lorne DeLarge spent most of his life in Saanich.

In Saanich, he bu ilt a home, family and a tight-knit community. However, in recent years, DeLarge started seeing the municipality he loves change drastically. “Over the last four years I’ve been watching the direction that Saanich has been going, and I feel very strongly that we need a new vision,” he said.

“We need a new direction and we need new leadership.” Wishing to do something about it, DeLarge decided to join forces with Save Our Saanich and proposed his candidacy among their ranks for the upcoming fall election. After a career spanning senior leadership roles in government, business and the non-profit sector, he hopes to bring what he describes as a more disciplined and collaborative approach to municipal government.

His resume includes managing a major real estate company in British Columbia, where he oversaw roughly 300 employees and a government portfolio worth about $600 million. Before that, he managed the provincial government’s leased property portfolio and once served as president of the Royal McPherson Theatre Society. Those experiences, he said, taught him that successful leadership comes through collaboration and listening, which he would like to bring to the table in Saanich if elected.

“You can be a bulldozer, but I find that’s not your best approach,” he said. “You have to work with people and that’s critical to success.” DeLarge added that among his main priorities would be fiscal responsibility.

Whether at council meetings or community events, DeLarge said one of the chief concerns highlighted by residents included rising property taxes and utility rates, which he believes are making it increasingly difficult for people to remain in Saanich. “It’s becoming unaffordable to live in Saanich because the taxes are going up so drastically,” he said, arguing the municipality needs to focus spending on priorities such as aging infrastructure. Growth is another issue he believes needs a different approach.

While DeLarge supports building more housing, he said development should be compatible with existing neighbourhoods and accompanied by the infrastructure needed to support it. Ultimately, DeLarge hopes to restore trust between council and the community. “I’ve been talking to people who live in Saanich, and I’m hearing that they’re not being listened to,” he said.

“That’s what our role is: to represent the people who elect us.”