(Chris Wilkinson Facebook page)
Would-be North Cowichan mayoral candidate joins right-leaning voting bloc on charity funding-raising team
Does Chris Wilkinson's participation on 'No Bottle Left Behind' hint at his own politics?
They described themselves as No Bottle Left Behind, a light-hearted name for a team that competed this month in a charity fund-raising event with a wine theme.
But the membership of No Bottle Left Behind may speak volumes about local politics and next fall’s municipal election in North Cowichan.
Chris Wilkinson, a “holistic business coach” with no experience as a councillor, announced on-line April 16 his plan to run for the mayoralty in North Cowichan.
Despite posting that “strong leadership is transparent,” he said almost nothing about where he stands on civic issues.
“Perhaps once I've filed my papers with North Cowichan we could circle back for an interview then,” he told sixmountains.ca.
Wilkinson has also declined to reveal where he sits on the political spectrum, including which party he supports at the provincial and federal level. “At the municipal level it’s about engaging and listening to what our people want,” he said on-line. “Partisan politics ruins it.”
None of the right-leaning voting bloc on North Cowichan council — Bruce Findlay, Tek Manhas, Mike Caljouw and Becky Hogg — responded when asked by sixmountains.ca if they support Wilkinson.
But Wilkinson’s membership on No Bottle Left Behind alongside those same four councillors might suggest otherwise.
Wilkinson disagrees.
"Participating together in a community charity event should not be interpreted as political alignment or endorsement of every policy position held by others involved," he told sixmountains.ca.
(The sixth member of No Bottle Left Behind is businessman Clayton Frost, who plans to seek election to the Cowichan Valley Regional District.)
Almost without exception, the majority 4-3 voting bloc on North Cowichan council has endorsed all development applications that have come before council, regardless of whether they go against the Official Community Plan and the opinion of professional staff — and often public sentiment.
Would Wilkinson have voted alongside the bloc on these applications?
He won't say.
"I intend to approach issues independently, thoughtfully, and on their individual merits, including matters related to growth, development, and our OCP," he said.
The charity event raised money for Anya’s Journey Foundation, named after Findlay’s 17-year-old daughter who has a rare genetic disorder, Lamb-Shaffer Syndrome.
Wilkinson's column, Coaching With Chris, in The Cowichan Valley Citizen, is on pause while he runs for mayor.
The municipal election is October 17.
Nominations close September 11, and the campaign period begins September 19.
Read more: https://www.sixmountains.ca/article/d5744861-e340-450a-a5a5-39106c14fede
(Larry Pynn is nominated for a Canadian Association of Journalists award for his sixmountains.ca investigative series on an unauthorized landfill on Cowichan Tribes reserve land: https://www.sixmountains.ca/article/6b58c0bc-455b-4090-b4e8-c4868545eefe )
Subscribe free to sixmountains.ca. More than 123,000 unique visitors.
Please consider a donation to local independent reporting.
— Larry Pynn, May 28, 2026
