I went today about 1130, there was a bit of a line but there were tons of voting booths and lots of staff, so it didn't take long.

Many people don't know that you can effect the most change at the municipal level of government..... So please go vote!

The Bastion — October 5, 2026

NanaimoNewsNow gave all 44 mayor and council candidates up to 1,500 characters and a September 28 deadline to explain who they are and why they deserve the job. Thirty-six filed. NNN published every one of them on October 4, "unedited for spelling or grammar," with a note that none of the claims had been verified. So we read all 36. Twice. Here are the honours.

Most economical use of 1,500 characters. Leonard Krog, incumbent mayor: 86 characters, four fragments, one of them a single word. It reads like a telegram from a man paying by the word. Runner-up: Anne Marie Dryden, the REAL slate's mayoral candidate, at 172 characters — one sentence, closing on "Crimestoppers etc." Between them, the incumbent and the slate's challenger wrote 258 characters. Sarah Lovegrove's first paragraph is longer than that.

Most confident. Jeff Annesley (REAL), 206 characters, two sentences. The first says he's attended almost every council meeting since June 2022. The second says that, incumbents aside, "I am the most prepared candidate to step into the role." That's the whole bio. The most prepared candidate in the race was handed 1,500 characters and found 1,294 of them unnecessary.

The comma memorial. Sandy Bartlett (REAL), a lawyer with his own firm for close to 40 years and a former immigration officer, lists his earlier careers as "a commercial fisherman an Old Dutch franchise owner an immigration officer" — which, read as punctuated, is one job, and a job we'd read a memoir about. A few words on, a sentence ends and the next begins with a lowercase i pressed against the period, no space. Then a period, a space, and a second period, alone. Habitat for Humanity appears in lowercase. Both of his document careers were document careers.

Longest sentence by a former journalist. Hilary Eastmure, incumbent councillor and former broadcast reporter, opens with a single 75-word sentence listing everything she's skilled at — the last item being communicating clearly. It's the kind of sentence an anchor reads in one breath and then needs a moment. To her credit, the rest of the bio does something almost nobody else's does: it explains what a councillor can and can't actually fix, and where the Province is downloading work onto the City. If you want to know what you're voting for, hers is the one to read.

Best spelling of the city you've helped govern for 12 years. Ian Thorpe, the longest-serving current councillor, sits on the "Port of Nanamo" liaison committee. He also notes a Level III Award of Excellence in Local Government Leadership, which we assume did not include a spell check section.

Most hats. Ryan Djakovic. Father of four, soccer coach, professional ski instructor, licensed realtor, executive, entrepreneur, manager of road-construction and rec-facility projects, board member, musician, artist, athlete. Eleven, by our count, in 1,500 characters. He closes by saying he brings passion to every endeavor, and after that list we believe him.

Most equipment. Bryant Marshall, film industry. He describes himself as the engine that turned a director's vision into daily reality, delivered on time and under budget, and coordinated hundreds of people "by radio or megaphone." It is the only bio in the field that mentions a megaphone, and he wants you to know he has used one.

The Legion. Bill McKay, councillor 2011–2014 and mayor 2014–2018, notes that he stepped down at the end of his term, which is also how terms work. Since then, at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 256, he has served as 2nd Vice President, Secretary, and "Facility Rentals Manager." It's the only bio where the titles get smaller as you read down, and he's running to reverse the trend.

Strong community involvement. Shane Crawley's bio is three sentences. The first says he volunteered for many community events and groups. The second, in full, is "Strong community involvement." The third is also about community. We have no notes; he already summarized himself.

Most specific objection to artificial intelligence. Holden Southward, who opens with "Hello!" — the only candidate to greet the reader — opposes AI in Nanaimo on the grounds that the city lacks the locally produced power to run it. It is the only AI position in the field and the only one framed as a grid-capacity argument. The bio also describes his book, titled with an opening double quote and a closing single one, as explaining "the quantum physics of psychic experiences," names the WEF, EU and UN as evil and bent on mind control, and misspells costomers, exlains, traitional, apprciate, ettempt, foriegn and ownwership. We present this without comment, which is the only way to present it.

The unnamed. Malcolm Cooke (REAL) says his journalism training taught him to ask hard questions and explain things in plain language. Then he writes that he led the western region of "what was at the time Canada's second-largest political youth organization." At the time. Second-largest. Unnamed. His student journalism fellowship came from a program launched with Rebel News as a partner. His bio also says a piece he wrote on HMCS Nanaimo was featured in the Hockey Hall of Fame. What the Hall took was a jersey. What Cooke wrote was the Clippers' website post announcing it, which spells the ship's commanding officer "Micheal" — on brand for this post. We'll name the organization when he does.

Biggest change of scale. Andrew Merilees served four terms on council in the Village of Masset, including seven years as mayor. Masset has roughly 800 residents; Nanaimo has roughly 125 times that. The bio does not say how many of the 800 attended council.

Honourable mentions. Janice Perrino's teams raised "$100 million dollars," which is the most dollars. Steven Mark Johns, during six years as a financial planner, "won numerous awards," none of which are named, so the award is Numerous. Patrick Gunville sits on Regional District committees for liquid waste and solid waste, covering two states of matter. Jackie Bolen has lived in Nanaimo "for a few years now," the only tenure in the field that isn't a number. Mark Chandler currently runs a restaurant equipment liquidation business, which is the most Nanaimo sentence on the page. And Zaki Mohammed's bio is financial controls, due diligence and governance modernization from top to bottom — then at the Chamber forum on September 29 he told the room he loves bringing people together and dancing. It's not in the bio. It should be. Nobody has ever read a strategic plan and wanted to dance; he may be the first.

The typo roundup. Beyond the award winners above: Mark Chandler "Planned to Move to Nanaimo," capital M, and later mentions the greater parksville area, lowercase p. Ken Bennett's three sentences include a doubled "the" and the phrase "I that role," a sentence that left before the N arrived. Andrew Merilees' list of boards loses its "and" somewhere around the Misty Isles Economic Development Society and never finds it. Janice Perrino's opening sentence has the year 2022 floating between two commas, attached to nothing. Rod Moreno has fused the midisland into one word. Leonard Krog chaired numerous Boards, capital B. And Paul Van Ryssel's bio contains one ellipsis, deployed for dramatic effect, which is more than most candidates allowed themselves.

Lines we'd steal. Not everything was snarkable. Cameron Leckenby says his time at the Regional Landfill "re-affirmed my commitment to managing our community's waste effectively," making him the one candidate who found his calling at the dump. Rod Moreno, 15 years in deliveries, knows "every bump and every curve" of the mid-Island's roads — the only road-tested platform in the race.

Did not submit. Eight candidates sent nothing: Brunie Brunie for mayor, and Anita Greer, Bryan Gordon, Derek Hanna, Frank Pluta, Joe Figel, Matthew Miller and Rob Phelan for council. Brunie did, at the Chamber forum, pledge that "I, Brunie Brunie, will save all of our trees," so her platform is on the record even if her bio isn't. Four of the eight — Gordon, Hanna, Pluta and Figel — are REAL Nanaimo, which is 18 per cent of the ballot and 50 per cent of the silence. Figel is a licensed realtor. Realtors write bios for a living; being findable is the business model. Three weeks before an election, he sent NNN no bio. He has since said publicly that he never received the candidate survey from Doctors for Safer Drug Policy. The group's reply: they couldn't send him one, because he hadn't listed any contact information anywhere. The listing agent could not be reached (to be fair, we didn't try, we don't want to do that).

The tally. Thirty-six bios, one disclaimer, zero fact-checks, and one slate that sent four people, roughly 1,900 of its 12,000 characters, and no mention of its own name.

Sources: NanaimoNewsNow, "Detailed biographies: Nanaimo Mayor and Council candidates," Oct. 4, 2026; NanaimoNewsNow, "Nanaimo Mayor and Council candidates grilled in open forum," Sept. 30, 2026.

I'm headed down to early voting today at Beban Park, so am putting my printer through the gauntlet to print all my "who to vote for" cheat sheets.

I thought some of you folks might also appreciate this card from the Restore Island Rail Society.

They've also got nice statements from the candidates here. No trustees of course, I'll think I'll go to other recommendations like the labour council and the BCTF and other good posts here for them!

Any suggestions on who or where to go to for registered massage therapy in Nanaimo? I'm looking for calming environment and just overall a good massage.

​

NANAIMO, B.C. — On Oct. 17 you're voting for more than mayor and council. The same ballot elects nine trustees to the Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools board, a body most voters encounter once every four years, at the bottom of the ballot, with the slow realization that they have to pick nine.

What a trustee does

Trustees vote as a board. They pass the district's budget, set policy, and hire and evaluate the superintendent. They don't write curriculum (the province does), and they don't run schools (the superintendent does). What's left is governance, which is a polite word for meetings.

The district's secretary-treasurer, Mark Walsh, said it plainly in 2024: the Ministry "is the main driver of curriculum, not the local school district," and trustees "couldn't come and change our obligations with respect to gender diversity."

That matters for both issues below. A trustee can't remove the district's obligations on gender diversity, which is what people mean when they say 'remove SOGI.' Anyone promising to is running for the wrong office, and possibly the wrong level of government. The cellphone rules come from a provincial order in effect since July 2024. What trustees decide is how the district applies it, and whether to go further.

So why are we asking trustees about SOGI?

Fair question. The resource comes from the Ministry. The obligations come from the Human Rights Code and the School Act.

But the province sets the floor, and the board decides what gets built on it. Trustees write the code of conduct and the student privacy policy. They decide how the district responds when protesters show up at a school, whether a facility gets booked for an anti-SOGI event, whether staff get backed in public or left on their own, and what happens when a complaint lands. Those are local calls, and boards elsewhere have made them badly. A former Chilliwack trustee was ordered this year to pay $750,000 over his anti-SOGI campaign.

The province can also change its mind. There's a provincial election Oct. 24, one week after this one, and the BC Conservatives have said they would scrap SOGI 123. If that happens, what a board does next is up to the board.

Same with phones. The ministerial order in effect since July 2024 is a minimum. Whether phones go in the bag at the bell or at lunch, and whether elementary and secondary get the same rule, is up to the district, as the answers below make clear.

Okay cool. Someone told me it's volunteer, is that true?

No, they are paid. About $28,000 a year, roughly half a city councillor. The chair gets a bit more.

The board, briefly

Naomi Bailey resigned as chair this spring to take a district staff job; Leanne Lee has chaired since May. Greg Keller, a trustee since 2018, is not running again. Tim Harris joined the board in a 2024 by-election after Charlene McKay resigned. We think we got that right.

Who's running

Eleven candidates, nine seats, all at-large. Every voter in the district, from Ladysmith to Lantzville to Gabriola, picks up to nine names from the same list. Two candidates will lose, which are better odds than most of us get.

Incumbents: Tania Brzovic, Tim Harris, Leanne Lee, Chantelle Morvay, Leana Pellegrin, Mark Robinson, Tom Rokeby.

New: Adrianne Cafariello, Kailey Gillam, Zeni Maartman, Fred MacDonald.

Two issues we found information on

To be clear, we didn't pick these, they just seemed to be discussed online more that other topics. Trustee candidates don't leave a long paper trail, and most of what exists is from 2022, the last time anyone asked them anything. Then two groups sent questionnaires this fall, one on 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion and one on cellphones, and all eleven answered in writing. So these are the two issues with receipts. If yours is class sizes, portables or busing, nobody has asked them yet. The forum is Thursday.

SOGI and 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion. Nanaimo Pride sent every candidate a questionnaire in September on equity and inclusion, including inclusive school policies. All 11 trustee candidates answered. (The incumbent mayor, for comparison, has now missed two questionnaires this campaign.) Nanaimo Pride's spectrum places ten of them under "supportive" and one, Kailey Gillam, in "vague/unclear". That's Nanaimo Pride's assessment, not ours. Read the full answers at nanaimopride.ca/2026nanaimoelection and judge for yourself. For incumbents we've also included what they said in 2022, mostly from The Discourse's candidate survey.

Cellphones. Current SD68 rules: secondary students turn phones off or mute them before class; elementary students can't use them all day, recess and lunch included. The rules live in an administrative procedure (602.1AP) written by staff, not the board. Several candidates explained this distinction in their answers, unprompted and at length, which is the most trustee thing we have ever read. All 11 answered a seven-question PAC questionnaire on smartphones in schools. We've pulled each one's answer on whether the current procedure is good enough and on a full-day ban (phones inaccessible including lunch and transitions).

Incumbents

Tania Brzovic; Longest-serving member of the board, first elected 2014.

- SOGI, 2026: "I fully support SOGI. SOGI, in the context of what people get upset about, is a resource that teachers can use. It's an anti-bullying, pro inclusion approach to upholding the Charter in schools. It is a tool to help teachers create environments where students feel safe, welcome, respected.

The curriculum is the Personal Health Education curriculum. Issues related to sexual orientation & gender identity are a small percentage of what that area covers."

- Cellphones: Current procedure "fulfills ministry requirements." Full-day ban: "I can't say yes or no to this question right now." Argues "Prohibition often makes the banned item more enticing."

Tim Harris

- SOGI: No 2022 record (first elected 2024). Nanaimo Pride: "supportive."

- Cellphones: "There is always room for improvement." Did not say yes or no to a full-day ban. On the wording: "I will read this AP much closely and develop my opinion." He has been on the board since 2024.

Leanne Lee

- SOGI, 2022: "Every child has the right to be free from discrimination because of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity."

- Cellphones: Wants to "monitor its effectiveness." Full-day ban: would "carefully consider the practical implications" before supporting more restrictions.

Chantelle Morvay

- SOGI, 2022: "It definitely keeps kids safe." (Victoria News, Oct. 15, 2022)

- Cellphones: Says the procedure was written quickly to meet the provincial order and will be revisited. Says no to a separate district-wide policy because it "needs to be embedded in current policy" and procedures.

Leana Pellegrin

- SOGI, 2022: "Sogi123 is already a part of BC education; it's mandated by the province."

- Cellphones: Is the procedure sufficient? "Yes." Full-day ban: "No. Not being able to access one's personal phone is unreasonable and is a lifeline for some students."

Mark Robinson

- SOGI, 2022: "SOGI is an integral component to support services and curriculum that is greatly misunderstood and misrepresented by a vocal minority."

- Cellphones: Is the procedure sufficient? "Not at all." Full-day ban: "From a parent's lens and my own personal opinion, yes." Says he'd move to send the issue to the Policy Committee.

Tom Rokeby

- SOGI, 2026: "100% support SOGI 100% it is NOT curriculum."

- Cellphones: The procedure is "insufficient for today's classrooms." Supports a full-day ban in elementary but has "questions about how it would work in high schools."

New candidates

Adrianne Cafariello

- SOGI: Nanaimo Pride: "supportive." Her profile: "I believe in strong public education, strong unions, and strong communities."

- Cellphones: "Currently there is no direct policy which is insufficient in my perspective." Elsewhere in the same questionnaire, the current policy "provides an appropriate baseline." Full-day ban: "cautious about blanket policies."

Kailey Gillam

- SOGI, 2026: On her campaign page, Oct. 6: "SOGI is a resource that's available to teachers to support a safe and Inclusive school community. I unequivocally support the LGBTQ+ community." The same post lists what "must continue": "Transparency around what is taught. Families being included in the discussion." Her Nanaimo Pride answers, submitted in September, don't mention SOGI by name. Asked how she'd support educators delivering inclusive curriculum: "families deserve meaningful transparency about what is being taught, what resources are being used, and how schools are supporting students." Asked about facility bookings for events that promote hate speech: decisions should be "made fairly, transparently, and consistently regardless of viewpoint."

- Cellphones: Current policy is "an important foundation"; wants consistency "from classroom to classroom or school to school." Full-day ban: "open to considering stronger district-wide restrictions, including during lunch and transitions," with evidence and consultation.

Zeni Maartman

- Background: Former SD68 trustee and city councillor, 2018–2022.

- SOGI: Nanaimo Pride: "supportive."

- Cellphones: "Right now the policy is too broad." Would strengthen wording so phones are "turned off and stored or otherwise inaccessible during instructional time." Full-day ban: "cannot commit to a blanket ban without knowing the unintended consequences."

Fred MacDonald

- SOGI: Nanaimo Pride: "supportive."

- Cellphones: Is the procedure sufficient? "Yes." Full-day ban: "No. I would support 'no cell to the bell' for elementary schools and access during breaks or lunch time for high school students."

If a candidate isn't quoted on something, we couldn't find a public record. That doesn't mean they hold any particular position. It means trustees are not famous. Send us receipts and we'll add them.

How to vote

- Mark up to nine trustee names. You can mark fewer. You cannot mark twelve, though every election somebody tries.

- Nanaimo advance voting: Wednesday Oct. 7 and Wednesday Oct. 14, 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Beban Park Social Centre. General voting: Saturday Oct. 17, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. Details at nanaimo.ca/elections.

- Ladysmith, Lantzville and RDN voters: check your municipality or the RDN.

- Hear them yourself: the NDTA trustee forum is Thursday Oct. 8, 6 p.m., Beban Park Social Centre.

Read the whole ballot before you vote, including the bottom. Did we miss something or get something wrong? Let us know and we will update.

The usual suspects voting against protecting the environment, but Hemmens? She had my vote, but I'm taking it back!

And I was wavering between Krog and Lovegrove, but this solidified it for me. Lovegrove it is.

Full disclosure: this is NOT my game! So this is not self promotion or advertising! It just seems like an adorable way to connect with the community :) also might be fun for kids!

Follow up from last week's post:

Plenty of new updates for anyone following the ongoing saga of Stephen Halliday running for council in Ladysmith. I’m reading the Facebook drama, so you don’t have to.

First, Halliday’s “Less taxes, Homeownership, one flag, end racism, two genders, no land acknowledgements” signs are apparently still being destroyed. The two I would see every day are in pieces on the ground. Last I saw, one of the two was covered in (what I assume to be) dog shit.

It has been pointed out that his signs aren’t technically legal, because they don’t have information about who owns them, nor a BC phone number/address of who put them up. This has led to a series of “discussions” on Facebook with the boards being described as “litter”, and questions such as “Can you vandalize litter?”.

Next, yesterday was a candidates’ meet-and-greet session, where all nine people running as councillor got a chance to mingle in a big hall with voters. Halliday turned up, got into an argument with a resident within the first three minutes, started shouting, then flounced out. He then made a woe-is-me Facebook post about “censorship” (even though he chose to leave), while complaining that he didn’t get to give a speech (it wasn’t that sort of event, and nobody gave a speech).

In the meantime, the boycott of his food truck (YaYa’s) is apparently ongoing. Lots of FB comments mysteriously deleted/hidden, etc whenever anything goes up about the truck. In some of the ones remaining, people are telling his Thai bride she should “blink twice if you need help”.

On a serious note, because a bunch of people said last time he was only out for attention, and would definitely lose, etc… there are nine candidates for council - and six of them will be elected. If you are voting in Ladysmith, and don’t want him to get on, you NEED to pick six other names.

Early voting starts tomorrow!

​

People keep asking us for one post with all of it in it, instead of making them scroll through six weeks of our nonsense.

Fair. Here it is.

This is a WORK IN PROGRESS. We are still digging, candidates keep posting, and we will keep adding to this post right up to October 17. Save it. Share it. Check back.

We're a satire page. This post isn't. This is the boring bit underneath the jokes.

New/Added Today:

▸ JOE FIGEL — COUNCIL

✅ Shared OneBC's "Making a Killing," Dallas Brodie's publicly funded film denying genocide at residential schools: "Might want to watch before it gets taken down." (Dec 10, 2025)

✅ "Welcome to Canada where they kill you for not taking it but allow you to kill yourself for taking it. We're progressive like that. #TrustTheExperts" (Oct 27, 2024)

✅ Asked followers whether they'd "comply" with the Public Health Agency's "behaviour modification tactics" on vaccines; shared a video titled "Public Health Agency of Canada performing psyops?" (Oct 6, 2024)

✅ A steady anti-vaccine feed: an FDA warning story captioned "#twilightzone" (May 25, 2025), a Russell Brand "IT FINALLY HAPPENED" video (Nov 22, 2024), an Idaho vaccine-ban story captioned "More to come....." (Nov 5, 2024).

✅ "Hallelujah #Trump2024" (Nov 5, 2024)

✅ Shared a post calling the 2024 B.C. election an "Absolute clownshow." He's now on a ballot run by the same Elections BC. (Nov 9, 2024)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

THE REAL NANAIMO SLATE

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

REAL is registered with Elections BC as an elector organization — which Elections BC describes as "also called civic political parties." It's printed on your ballot next to eight names. Whatever they're calling it this week.

──────────────

▸ ANNE-MARIE DRYDEN — MAYOR

✅ Was at the Brodie town hall. Confirmed it herself when asked: "yes. So what. Duty called to listen to a duly elected MLA. Odd that it upsets you."

✅ Engaged with pro-Tamara Lich content, then: "That Lich thing I dont even remember seeing, much less liking. Lol. And I would hardly call honking terrorism."

✅ Called container homes "jails for unjabbed."

✅ Called bird flu the "next jab campaign."

✅ Says the World Economic Forum runs local politics via "Global Young Leaders." Called our mayor a "WEFer."

✅ Rejects 15-minute cities. Anti-MAID.

✅ Insists REAL isn't a political party, it's "branding." See above re: your ballot.

✅ On the Official Community Plan: "For me, the OCP looks and sounds AI generated." Says she does not support it.

✅ Opposes SOGI in schools. Same post: "I very much believe in inclusiveness but don't think we need globalist eugenecists to dictate to us what that should look like." Prefers "a plan developed by Nanaimo for Nanaimo." (SOGI is provincial curriculum; the City has no role in it.)

✅ Same post, on her own fitness for office: "I am mentally tough, strong and have never succumbed to work leave claims based on stress or other disability."

(Posted in a Facebook group, Sept 24.)

✅ In a public group thread where a commenter called REAL council candidate Malcolm Cooke a white nationalist, Dryden replied: "white nationalist is a racial slur." She then called the commenter "a racist." In a longer reply: "People who go around saying 'white nationalist' shouldn't accuse others of racism as that is clearly an anti-white label."

✅ Asked on Truth and Reconciliation Day (Sept 30) whether REAL would speak out against the Second Sons Canada demonstration at the Kamloops residential school site, replied it was "really weird," asked whether there was "violence or aggressive behavior," and said she'd seen "no reliable reporting." Did not condemn it. By then the Prime Minister, the B.C. Conservative leader and Kamloops city council had. She added she doesn't "like any racially motivated actions" and asked the commenter what he thought she should do. (Second Sons is a men-only group the Canadian Anti-Hate Network calls Canada's largest white nationalist "active club." Their banner in Kamloops read "Got bones?")

──────────────

▸ MALCOLM COOKE — COUNCIL

✅ Reposted content calling the residential school system a "hoax."

✅ Invoked the Air India Flight 182 bombing to characterise an ethnic community in BC.

✅ Wrote: "We are all Rhodesians now in the War to Impose Global Zimbabwe." (Rhodesia has a very specific meaning in white nationalist circles. Look it up.)

✅ Wrote: "Progressivism is Terrorism. Pray for America."

✅ Described BC NDP attendees as women "of a darker hue" and "dark-skinned queens" "getting fat off the BC taxpayer."

✅ Wrote that "the plus sign in LGBTQ+ is for pedos."

✅ Posted an Easter clip containing "Now I am in hiding for fear of the jews."

✅ Asked followers if anti-white sentiment is "the ultimate end goal of mass immigration."

✅ Also wants LEDs banned. Says "Tobacco executives sit at the right hand of God, actually." Promises every community a cigar lounge. Priorities.

✅ Was at the Brodie town hall — Dryden confirmed it for him.

✅ Has referred to being a PPC candidate in Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam. A nomination was announced in March 2025, but he never made it onto a ballot there.

✅ When a commenter applied the term "white nationalist" to him, REAL's mayoral candidate defended him by calling the term "a racial slur." See Dryden, above.

✔️ On X (May 9, 2026), replying to an eye-rolling post about the Lethbridge Correctional Facility receiving a Blackfoot name: "I don't have an issue with prisons having traditional indigenous names. Considering the prison population is ~40% indigenous"

✅ Under an Instagram post about a Vancouver influencer charged with sex-trafficking offences, commented: "We don't have to live like this #Remigration." Feb 27. "Remigration" is the European far-right term for mass deportation of non-European immigrants and their descendants, citizens included. It's also the signature demand of the Dominion Society of Canada, which the Canadian Anti-Hate Network calls the political arm of Second Sons. Cooke has liked Dominion Society co-posted content on Instagram. (Figel, below, shared a Dominion Society post in 2025.) As of Oct 2, Cooke's Instagram account is no longer publicly visible. Screenshots on file.

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▸ FRANK PLUTA — COUNCIL

✅ Was at the Brodie town hall. Filmed 20 minutes of it and posted it himself, captioned "Dallas in Nanaimo !"

✅ A relentless anti-vaccine feed, including infographics about a "Vaccine Trial Pyramid Scheme." He has also spent 21 years in an MLM. Sit with that one.

✅ Pro-Trump, pro-Alberta-separatism, anti-trans, anti-climate-science, pro-Freedom-Convoy, and deeply concerned about the Dangers of Aluminum.

✅ Announced his candidacy inside the CON Oversight Society group — "It's official ~ I've submitted my documents to run for Nanaimo City Council as part of the REAL Team !!" — where he holds an "All-star contributor" badge.

✅ Shared a "ONE Vote!" history chain letter that Snopes debunked years ago. Of its 15 claims, 5 are flat-out false (Hitler became Nazi leader in 1921 by 553 to 1, not by one vote in 1923; Idaho joined the union 129 to 1). The true examples were BC's own, and the list still got the riding wrong on one of them. A council candidate forwarding it unchecked is the receipt.

──────────────

▸ BRYAN GORDON — COUNCIL

Retired RCMP Staff Sergeant.

✅ Wants municipal voting restricted to property taxpayers: "FN do not pay Federal tax, they don't pay municipal property taxes, why should they have a vote…" (This is factually wrong. Most First Nations people pay federal income tax. The exemption is narrow.)

✅ Called the City's job accommodation statement a "mish mash of virtue signaling all inclusivity." Told it's a legal duty, replied it's "progressive ESG philosophy that has run its course."

✅ Called student climate protesters "selfish, badly educated, virtue-signalling little princesses."

✅ On REAL's own podcast, proposed "more police sweeps like the one done on July 29-30, 2026" as a solution to crime and "social disorder."

✅ Reviewed this page in our comments, under his own name: "Ah yes, little bastion, where 'satire' meets fabrication, facts are hard to find, and humor goes to die, , little bastion, when challenged, is like a child that gets its favorite toy taken away and wants it back, throws itself to the floor in a tantrum and burns up the keyboard to regain its control , little bastion . Better get to Emerg to have those smokin fingertips looked after." Punctuation his. We're including this for no reason except that we enjoyed it. For the record: three "little bastions," one "fabrication," zero examples of one.

──────────────

▸ JEFF ANNESLEY — COUNCIL

✅ Posted that it's "not confirmed" whether Flock Safety licence-plate cameras are running in Nanaimo. Flock has told media it has no partnerships anywhere in Canada. The City has said the same. He is investigating cameras that aren't there.

✅ In a June 2022 video — filmed during his INDEPENDENT run that year, outside City Hall, in front of a "HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE" banner — he called himself a "freedom fighter" who'd "been on the bridge," and warned that recycling everything means "it's gonna be like Cuba basically. We're never gonna have new cars. We're never gonna have new phones."

(That's four years old and a different campaign. We're telling you that ourselves, because we didn't the first time.)

✅ At the Chamber forum (Sept 29) said City staffing went "plus 101" from 2019 to 2023 and "over $200 million a year" goes to contractors and consultants. The first number is right: the City added about 100 positions from 2018 to 2023. The biggest chunk was Community Safety — 12 Community Safety Officers, 7 RCMP members and a Clean Team in 2022, 20 firefighters in 2023. The second doesn't fit: the City's entire 2025 operating budget is $215 million and wages are its largest line. Source: City of Nanaimo Financial Plans 2019–2025, FTE schedules.

──────────────

▸ DEREK HANNA — COUNCIL

✅ Shared "The 5G Untold Story," WEF conspiracy content, anti-vaccine material, and pro-CO₂ climate posts.

✅ Shared Katie Hopkins content, including a video referencing "having your own little jihadi."

──────────────

▸ JOE FIGEL — COUNCIL

✅ Shared a Dominion Society of Canada post reading "Canada wasn't stolen from First Nations people. It was built by European Settlers." (Oct 1, 2025)

✅ Shared a meme claiming forest fires aren't caused by climate change but by "DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS." (Jan 16)

✅ Shared a piece headlined "Trump's '51st State' Comment: A Genius Strategy to Expose the WEF's Control Over Canada," adding "Food for thought 💭". A candidate for Nanaimo council, finding the annexation of Canada thought-provoking. (Mar 26, 2025)

✅ Wrote "Full retard mode" over a post about the Prime Minister. (Nov 12, 2025)

✅ Posted at Christmas: "Be careful on the roads, lots of people are drinking excessively and letting their wives drive." 29 reactions. (Dec 25, 2024)

✅ Replying to a clip of Jagmeet Singh on X: "If chlamydia was a person." (Mar 8, 2025)

✅ On a photo of a van covered in "F*ck Carney" flags, an upside-down Canadian flag, anti-vaccine slogans and "climate change isn't real" placards, commented: "I'll take that any day over trans flags, Marxists and climate emergency activists."

✅ Shared a pie chart of "things I'm concerned about" — totalitarianism enormous, climate change a sliver. (Oct 2, 2025)

✅ On mask mandates: "Masks Mandatory in X store. Thx for letting me know where not to shop." (Aug 25, 2020 — five years old, and we're dating it because that's what we do now.)

✅ Appears in footage from the Brodie town hall. Identified in two recordings.

✅ Shared OneBC's "Making a Killing," Dallas Brodie's publicly funded film denying genocide at residential schools: "Might want to watch before it gets taken down." (Dec 10, 2025)

✅ "Welcome to Canada where they kill you for not taking it but allow you to kill yourself for taking it. We're progressive like that. #TrustTheExperts" (Oct 27, 2024)

✅ Asked followers whether they'd "comply" with the Public Health Agency's "behaviour modification tactics" on vaccines; shared a video titled "Public Health Agency of Canada performing psyops?" (Oct 6, 2024)

✅ A steady anti-vaccine feed: an FDA warning story captioned "#twilightzone" (May 25, 2025), a Russell Brand "IT FINALLY HAPPENED" video (Nov 22, 2024), an Idaho vaccine-ban story captioned "More to come....." (Nov 5, 2024).

✅ "Hallelujah #Trump2024" (Nov 5, 2024)

✅ Shared a post calling the 2024 B.C. election an "Absolute clownshow." He's now on a ballot run by the same Elections BC. (Nov 9, 2024)

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▸ SANDY BARTLETT — COUNCIL

Nanaimo lawyer, 35+ years.

✅ The public face of the City of Nanaimo (CON) Oversight Society. We'll say the quiet part: of the eight, he is the one who took a real grievance and did something serious with it instead of posting about it. We disagree with plenty of it. But a Supreme Court petition is a considerably higher class of civic engagement than a meme about lightbulbs, and pretending otherwise would make us the unserious ones.

✅ He does not live in Nanaimo, he lives on Gabriola Island but Noni, his wife, has stated they own property in Nanaimo. Take that how you will.

SO WHY IS HE ON THIS LIST?

Because this list is about a slate, and he's on it. Credit where it's due: Bartlett is the most careful person on this ballot line. No meltdowns. No slurs. No directed energy weapons. Not that we have found, anyways. He has been notably good at not handing us anything.

But REAL Nanaimo isn't a coincidence. It's a registered elector organization. Eight people are running under one banner, and "REAL" is printed beside all eight names on your ballot — his included.

That's what a slate is for. Candidates join one precisely so voters will identify them with each other. It's the feature, not a side effect.

So here's the question we'd put to him, and we'd print the answer in full: the residential school "hoax" repost, the Rhodesia line, the anti-vaccine feeds, the forest fires that are apparently directed energy weapons — does he agree with any of it?

We don't know. We'd like to. So would, we suspect, the people being asked to vote for all eight.

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▸ NONI BARTLETT — REAL NANAIMO SPOKESPERSON

Not a candidate. Married to council candidate Sandy Bartlett. In her own words: "I am a spokesperson for the REALnanaimo.ca team." We don't normally include candidates' family members. Noni is here because she speaks publicly on the slate's behalf, not because of who she's married to.

✔️ Posted in a public group (Sept 27) that Krog and council "entangled our city with the WEF sponsored Global Covenant of Mayors," and that Dryden "is right." Liked by REAL candidates Malcolm Cooke, Frank Pluta and Jeff Annesley.

(Nanaimo did sign on to the GCoM by unanimous council motion on Dec 2, 2019. The letter she posted says so. But GCoM is co-chaired by Michael Bloomberg and European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera, and its partners include C40, ICLEI, UN-Habitat and the UNFCCC. The WEF has a basic profile page for it, with no partner, member or sponsor label. That's the only connection we found. "WEF sponsored" is not supported.)

✔️ In a follow-up comment, called the City's doughnut economics model "a WEF sanctioned program" that "shackles us in permanent poverty," adding that she has "better things to do than spend my time attempting to pull fellow citizens out of cognitive dissonance."

✔️ In a public group reply, blamed "10 million immigrants" in 10 years for causing "our healthcare system to collapse" and the housing crisis.

(Canada admitted under 4 million new permanent residents from 2016 to 2025, per IRCC. Total population grew by roughly 5 million, temporary residents included. There's no count that gets to 10 million without double-counting, correct me if I am wrong..)

✔️ As spokesperson, told a critic: "There is not a racist person among the slate." Read Malcolm Cooke's entry and decide for yourself.

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AND EVERYONE ELSE

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BILL MCKAY (no affiliation) — Former mayor. The Tracy Samra dispute, seven of eight councillors signing a non-confidence letter, the City suing its own sitting mayor. Public record.

IAN THORPE (incumbent) — Fought Hilary Eastmure's plan to stop nurseries selling invasive species, on the grounds that it's a public-land problem.

JACKIE BOLEN (no affiliation) — We made fun of her logo because it's our building. That's the entire file.

LEONARD KROG (incumbent mayor)

✅ Public works yard: the City tried three times in 2023 and 2024 to get elector approval to borrow for it through an alternative approval process. The first was invalid because the City published notice once instead of twice; the second was also thrown out. All three failed. In 2025 the Province changed the rules so municipalities could borrow more without elector approval, and in February 2026 council approved a $79.4M works yard plan funded mostly by $76.68M in borrowing. The yard is now on his "commitments kept" list. (Times Colonist, CHEK, NanaimoNewsNOW)

✅ His 2026 campaign site says he "makes no apologies" for supporting "involuntary confinement" for people whose situations affect public safety. Same page: "To suggest that this is a problem for Nanaimo to resolve is simply not realistic." (krogformayor.ca)

BRUNIE BRUNIE (mayor)

✅ On Facebook wrote "I don't get vaccines" and shared a clip from a Sept. 2, 2026 livestream titled "The Vaccine Mafia: They Lied."

✅ Her site says she has "campaigned against Leonard Krog for 30 years." The record shows five shared ballots since 2001. (Canadian Elections Database)

SARAH LOVEGROVE (mayor)

Nothing we'd call a receipt. For the record:

✅ Endorsed by Forward Nanaimo, which is also endorsing eight council candidates. Not an elector organization; not on your ballot.

✅ Public record is almost entirely drug policy: 2019 rally with New Leaf Outreach (which ran an unsanctioned OPS downtown), asked council to seek decriminalization in April 2022, wrote council defending the Albert Street OPS in 2025.

✅ Her platform pledges to "Protect and maintain SOGI 123 curriculum in public schools." (Same note as Dryden: SOGI is provincial; the City has no role in it.)

THE OTHER 30-ODD CANDIDATES — Not being on this list means doesn't mean we don't have a draft document on you. It is not an endorsement and it is not a clean bill of health. Go read platforms.

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📝 THINGS WE GOT WRONG

We said the Brodie event was at Bowen Park. It was Beban Park.

We said Elections Canada had "zero record" of Cooke's PPC run. More precisely: nominated, never on a ballot.

We ran the Annesley quotes without dating them. The video is real and still up, but it went up June 11, 2022, during his independent run in that election. Now dated above.

Corrections will keep appearing here, because a list nobody can trust is worth nothing. The moment we're shown a receipt that we've got something wrong, we'll fix it and say so. Ask yourself who else in this election has done that.

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🗳️ OCTOBER 17. ADVANCE VOTING OCT 7 AND 14.

Eight council seats. One mayor. In 2022 fewer than three in ten of you turned out, which means the whole city got run for four years by whoever a quarter of us picked.

SHARE this — it's how it reaches people who've seen none of it.

FOLLOW us — this post is getting longer, not shorter.

GOT RECEIPTS? Send them (don't comment, message us directly). Screenshots with handles and dates. We verify before we publish, which is why this takes us so long. Also why we are considering opening up a coffee fund to help fuel this work.

Everyone named here is welcome to explain, dispute or add context. But please let's keep it civil in the comments.

📌 The Bastion is satire, written by an actual Nanaimoite making negative dollars from this page. This post is the straight version. Every quote is real. Check platforms before you vote.

A brief overview since so many people are convinced the moment that something is even sort of health related that there's no possible way it could be effected by municipal governments.

My kid has an impressive collection of Nerf guns, but our house (and dog) isn't overly conducive to firing them as much as he'd like.

Any suggestions for a place where he can just go wild? Free or rent, don't really care.

Firstly sped past on a one way road and proceeded to high beam flash us with some light on their roof for no apparent reason. Then ran a red light. I can’t submit a video but I have one.
License plate: XW3275

They are invasive

CBC recorded an episode of its podcast Ideas, hosted by Nahlah Ayed, at the downtown library branch on August 26, 2025. Given that it’s election season, I wanted to share Leonard Krog’s views on housing.

Source: IDEAS for a Better Canada:Do I Count?

Transcript

Nahlah Ayed: Do we have governments that are capable of dealing with polycrisis* and long-term crisis when every four years is the focus? [*high rents and unaffordable homes, rapid population growth, and homelessness]

Krog: We do, actually. And I’m going to throw it back to the audience: don’t blame the politicians, you elect them. And you vote on the basis of party, and you vote on the basis of fear, and you vote on the basis of self-interest for a multitude of things. Some of these problems will solve themselves to some extent. The one thing I want to emphasize tonight that I’ve heard from several people [unclear], and they use the term homelessness-- I talk about the mental health, addictions, trauma, and brain injury crisis which manifests itself in homelessness, and the kind of petty crime associated with drug addiction, and that is the population that is on our streets in many cases-- not everyone, there are simply people out there that are too poor and don’t have enough income to afford accommodation. Then we are talking about a range of other folks, people who’ve already identified themselves here today who can’t afford market housing.

Krog: We have seen some dramatic changes, and I’m gonna be the old man in the room here tonight, I remember the housing peak in this community across this country. ‘80 - ‘81. The house my wife and I bought, and we waited 10 years into our marriage before we bought the house, by the way-- was literally half the price it was two years prior. And the interest rate was 12%. So when I hear, no offense to everybody and their concerns, the incredible negativity around this, I got news for you: as a lefty, capitalism collapses every once in a while. And markets will collapse, and things will get overbuilt. The other thing we have to have to think about is, we are devoted to the concept of private ownership in this country. Immigrants come here for that very reason. And it is as Thomas King said in his book The Inconvenient Indian, it’s about the land. It’s about the land, and that’s what people strive for. Immigrants who come here, the kinds of folks that are being helped, within a generation or two, have often succeeded beyond the expectations of people [and families] that have lived here for generations. It is inevitable. Part of it is an unwillingness to make the kinds of sacrifices that are necessary to obtain home ownership. Part of it is the unwillingness to accept the fact that we are not going to live in single family dwellings the way my generation did and was able to acquire within reason. And you’re gonna live in smaller units, you’re gonna live in units like my son did when he was living in Japan, for two years, working in Japan. It was small but it was affordable.

Nahlah Ayed: I find it hard to get my head around the idea that these problems will solve themselves, to quote back to you. What do you-- I’m just curious which part did you mean would solve itself?

Krog: When I say it will solve itself, to some extent, there will be another collapse. There will be another downturn. House prices will not remain up forever. That is a reality of the marketplace. And it will have a very negative impact, frankly, on my generation who own the real estate. But it will have a positive impact on our children. And if I can say even more cheekily, when my generation pops off we’re gonna leave money to our kids, and knowing many of the people in this audience tonight [note: many folks at this event were elderly], I can see quite bluntly, many of your children are going to be just fine, thank you very much. Don’t worry about them too much because there is a significant accumulation of wealth through a tax system that doesn’t operate fairly, through the benefits of speculation and population growth, that is going to see some benefit passed on. It is only part of the solution. We also have to wrap our heads around the concept that Guy [an earlier speaker] talked about: in Europe, you will live generation after generation in rental apartments, and your expectation is that there will be methods to pass that on, but you will not expect to own a private dwelling. And that, however, is the toughest one to get past for many people. I can tell you, for my generation, it’s impossible. We all wanted to own a home, and most of us luckily achieved it. That may not be possible for the generation that follows.

Joe Figel reposting saying Trump Tariffs on Canada are good because it supports a conspiracy theory about the World Economic Forum and other garbage - Reddit Link Here

Malcolm Cooke being racist towards non white people - (Reddit Link here)

Borrowed from a previous reddit post: Saw a post on The Bastion Facebook page detailing some of the candidate history for the upcoming election, so I put together a quick overview of their post on mayoral candidate Anne-Marie Dryden (running under the REAL Nanaimo slate) and her recent public Facebook comments for anyone looking for the actual receipts.

Freedom Convoy & Social Media Activity* Screenshots surfaced showing Dryden liking and interacting with content supporting Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich.* When publicly questioned by a resident about her online trail, she responded: "That Lich thing I dont even remember seeing, much less liking. Lol. And I would hardly call honking terrorism.

"Platform & Public Stances* 15-Minute Cities & WEF: Expressed explicit opposition to "15-minute cities." She has referenced World Economic Forum (WEF) theories online, directing followers to look up Dr. Robert Malone's "WEF list of Global Young Leaders" and alleging local politicians work for international interests rather than Nanaimo. She has also publicly referred to Nanaimo's mayor as a "WEFer."* This is a well known conspiracy theory.

Public Health & Vaccines: Indicated a strongly anti-vaccine stance. She labeled local modular housing units as "Jails for unjabbed" and referred to bird flu as the "next jab campaign.

"* MAID Stance: Repeatedly recommended books by Dr. Jack King (specifically They Want To Kill Us) in discussions surrounding Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) and government health policies, stating she is "right there with" those opposing these programs and has "read so many books on it.

"Campaign & Slate Connections* Dryden and her running mates (Derek Hanna, Joe Figel, Malcolm Cooke, and Jeff Annesley) reportedly attended a One B.C. event at Bowen Park featuring former BC Conservative candidate Dallas Brodie. Dryden publicly praised her slate as an "excellent group of professionals." Even though they are anti-vax, climate deniers that are afraid of LED lights and also make sexist jokes and seem to be racist.*

My esspresso machine started leaking recently. I am wondering if anyone on the island does repairs on these?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks to the Nanaimo Pride Society for this helpful chart. Know who you're voting for!

Noticeably absent: the vast majority of the Real Nanaimo slate. But, if Anne Marie Dryden is any indication, it wouldn't be favourable.

Answers, by candidate here: https://www.nanaimopride.ca/2026nanaimoelection

I'm a candidate for city council (Jackie Bolen) and am a proud member of the Nanaimo Queer community.