As the mayor played the ukulele, a Squamish councillor fulfilled his first campaign promise by setting himself on fire.

Peter Kent, a professional stuntman who worked as Arnold Schwarzenegger's stunt double in movies including Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall and Predator, pledged in October that if voter turnout for Squamish's 2014 civic election was higher than it was in 2011 (38.6 per cent), he would set himself ablaze. It was – 47.1 per cent – and on Friday evening, Mr. Kent set himself on fire at the Loggers Sports Grounds in Squamish.

Mr. Kent, 57, was born and raised in North Vancouver and moved to Los Angeles in his mid-20s to pursue an acting career. Despite having no acting experience, a chance encounter with director James Cameron at a casting call led to a 14-film, 13-year career as Mr. Schwarzenegger's stunt double.

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Now – like Mr. Schwarzenegger, who served as Governor of California from 2003 to 2011, earning himself the nickname "The Governator" – Mr. Kent is in politics.

"I really was in love with this community from the moment I moved here," he said, shortly before being ignited. "We face some challenges. I've lived here nine years, my wife works at the hospital, I'm raising my twins here. I love this place. A lot of people came forward to me between 2011, when I ran for the first time, and this time, asking me to run just based on some of the values that I have, that people seem to be able to relate to.

"LNG is one of the issues; there are a lot of issues. But it's a great time to be Squamish right now. We have so many great things going on, with development, with businesses coming here."