Voters in Saanich have elected Councillor Fred Haynes to be their next mayor, unseating incumbent Richard Atwell. “We had heard on the door that there was a lot of interest from the families and the voters of Saanich for a new approach,” Haynes said to reporters at his campaign party in his Prospect Lake home. “I’m delighted that our campaign managed to capture that.” Haynes credited part of his win to his campaign engaging with youth and millennials. “We worked very hard on in the background to engage youth… our social media site had over 500,000… engagements online…. through that feedback we could fine tune our campaign to make sure we are capturing nuances,” said Haynes. He had won with 15,312 votes (47.1 per cent), Atwell came in second with 10768 votes (33.1 per cent). Rob Wickson and David Shebib trailed with 5546 and 324 votes, respectively. Council also saw some changes with the two youngest candidates, 19-year-old Ned Taylor and 23-year-old Zac de Vries, now calling council their home. “I think Saanich residents made it clear they wanted positive, hopeful and optimistic message and vision that we can move forward from,” Said de Vires to CHEK News Sunday.“We rejected the politics of ager and the ideaSaanich broken, we embraced the idea of compassion and forward thinking…. this council shows great opportunity for cooperation… we’ve changed the face of Saanich council.” Taylor says he is excited for what is to come for council. “I am thrilled, I worked so hard and had so many people behind me, I’m honored to have the support and trust form this community I love,” said Taylor. “I think [the youth wins] mean the tide is turning in politics, young people understand the importance of having their voice in politics, we are both going to speak for the young voices and others on council,” said council. Re-elected incumbent councilor Colin Plant also says he is looking forward to the next four years. “I am very honored to have been endorsed so strongly, really excited by this council, there is an exciting mix of new energy and experience,” said plant.