Candidates
Fact checks of what Qualicum Beach candidates for Mayor and Council, and the Town itself, say about Eaglecrest, property taxes and Town spending before the October 17, 2026 election. Every finding links to the record behind it.
Voting dates, the voting place and the full candidate list are on our Qualicum Beach Election 2026 page.
Candidates for Mayor
Qualicum Beach elects its Mayor on October 17, 2026. We check what the candidates for Mayor say about Eaglecrest, taxes and Town finances against Council minutes, budgets and staff reports, and look at their record in office.
-
Running for Mayor (incumbent)
Teunis Westbroek
He gets the smaller facts right, but on Eaglecrest he leaves out what the Town’s own records show: land sales are budgeted $1.23 million short of the cost, and it has already drawn on reserves. Community groups asked for $431,000 and got a quarter of it, while the Town put the same sum into its other golf course. In 2021 Council censured him, and in 2023 he settled a defamation suit for $130,000.
- Accurate × 9
- Misleading × 14
- Not verified × 1
Fact checked: Questionnaire · Flyer
Record in office: Defamation lawsuit · Council censure
-
Running for Mayor
Adam Walker
He gets most of his facts right, from the tax outlook to the unsold Eaglecrest land and the elector approval that large borrowing would need. In 2023, as MLA, he was removed from the NDP caucus after an investigation of a complaint from one of his staff found misconduct. The details aren’t public, and he says he did nothing wrong. On Council he was never censured, but in 2020 he took the Town to court over closed-door orders about a confidential document he wrote.
- Accurate × 17
Fact checked: Questionnaire · Website
Record in office: Removed from NDP caucus · On Council, 2018–2020
-
Running for Mayor
Nessa Cymbalisty
Her answers are mostly aims, not facts, and the few facts she states hold up. Some of her promises are already in place, like public bids and named votes; others, like holding taxes flat, would take a majority of Council. She hasn’t held office or run before, and says she would hire Adam Walker, her rival for Mayor, as a Town consultant.
- Accurate × 3
Fact checked: Questionnaire · Website
Town documents
What the Town of Qualicum Beach tells residents about Eaglecrest and its finances, checked against its own Council minutes, budgets and staff reports.
-
Town of Qualicum Beach · September 14, 2026
Town of Qualicum Beach Eaglecrest FAQ
The FAQ’s figures match the Town’s budget. Its reassurances don’t match the Town’s other records. The flexible reserves it says can carry the project are close to empty, the projects it says aren’t affected were pushed back to pay for it, and the engagement it lists doesn’t mention the hearing where speakers opposed the rezoning 34 to 4.
- Accurate × 2
- Misleading × 6
- Not verified × 2
Candidates for Council
Answers to the same questionnaire. Incumbents first.
-
Running for Council (incumbent)
Jean Young
Her account of wildfire planning, the aging population and her attendance holds up; her account of closed meetings doesn’t, and her flyer leaves out that she backed the Eaglecrest funding plan and moved its budget increase. Her handout of Council’s progress includes a fire truck the previous Council bought, and tree protection and event sponsorships she voted against. In September 2025 Elections BC fined her $650 for putting $1,778 more of her own money into her 2022 campaign than the limit allowed. It said she cooperated in fixing it. The minutes show no censure or conflict of interest.
- Accurate × 17
- Misleading × 13
- Inaccurate × 1
Fact checked: Questionnaire · Flyer · “Celebrating Progress” Handout
Record in office: Elections BC penalty · On Council, 2022–2026
-
Running for Council (incumbent)
Anne Skipsey
She gets the record right on the Island Highway apartments, FireSmart work, the skate park, the hospital donation and the Eaglecrest arithmetic, and has since corrected her figure for the price per acre. But her “setting the record straight” page is itself misleading about the $21.2 million Eaglecrest budget, which she moved. In 2021 she helped defeat a motion that the Town not buy the course, and since 2025 she has moved most of Council’s Eaglecrest decisions. She served 2014–2018 and since 2021 with no censure; in her first term she declared conflicts and left the room 15 times.
- Accurate × 9
- Misleading × 6
- Corrected × 2
Fact checked: Questionnaire · Website
Record in office: On Council, 2021–2026 · First term, 2014–2018
-
Running for Council (incumbent)
Scott Harrison
His numbers mostly check out, though one housing figure is wrong and his claim that letters rushed the tree bylaw doesn’t hold up. On Eaglecrest he was often the only vote against: the 2025 funding plan, the rezoning and the $21.2 million budget, though he moved second reading of the 2026 budget that carried it. He missed 33 of 168 meetings this term, up from 9 in his first. We found no censure or conflict of interest in eight years.
- Accurate × 9
- Misleading × 1
- Inaccurate × 1
- Not verified × 1
Fact checked: Questionnaire
Record in office: On Council, 2018–2026
-
Running for Council
Mischa Oak
Most of his specific claims hold up, from the plans pushed back for Eaglecrest to the months-late release of closed-meeting decisions and the $2 million a year on consultants, but he overstates what the tree bylaw stops homeowners doing. He hasn’t held office or run before. In 2025, as secretary of The Old School House arts centre, he asked Council for mid-year funding; Council later approved $50,000.
- Accurate × 13
- Misleading × 1
Fact checked: Questionnaire · Website · Flyer
-
Running for Council (councillor 2018–2022)
Robert Filmer
His account of his 2018–2022 term mostly holds up, but he voted against rezoning Qualicum Station, one of the rental projects he says he supported, and he overstates the St. Andrews cost. In December 2020 he took leave, saying he faced discrimination on Council; the Town said its investigator found no evidence of it. In 2021 he voted against a motion ruling out an Eaglecrest purchase. He finished ninth of ten in 2022.
- Accurate × 9
- Not verified × 1
Fact checked: Questionnaire · Flyer
Record in office: On Council, 2018–2022 · Leave and investigation
-
Running for Council
Donald Couzens
He gives more views than facts. He is right about single-detached homes, the pipe renewals put off and the lack of family doctors, and has corrected his age figure. His one specific charge against Council, about pickleball, is partly right: the club did offer to pay for converting a tennis court, but nothing has been spent near the airport. He hasn’t held office or run before.
- Accurate × 5
- Misleading × 1
- Corrected × 2
Fact checked: Questionnaire · Website
We haven’t checked Melissa Worth: we found no questionnaire answers, website or flyer. If you have campaign material from Melissa Worth, send it to facts@LetThemEatGolf.ca.
How we check
- We check claims about policy, spending and Council decisions. We don’t check opinions or personal background.
- We quote the exact words, and link to the full text.
- Every finding lists its sources. Town documents come first: minutes, budgets and staff reports. News reports are used where the Town hasn’t published something, and are labelled.
- If we can’t find a public record either way, we say so.
What the verdicts mean
- Accurate
- The public record backs it up.
- Misleading
- True as far as it goes, but it leaves out a fact that changes what it means.
- Inaccurate
- The public record contradicts it.
- Not verified
- We found no public record either way.
Spot a mistake?
Candidates and readers can send corrections with a link to the record. We fix errors quickly and say so on the page. Our corrections policy.