Fred Haynes

Fred J. Haynes (born c. 1952) is a Canadian politician. He is currently the mayor of Saanich, British Columbia. Prior to being elected, Haynes was a high school teacher, university instructor, business networking tool publisher and business and economic development consultant. He is also an aikido instructor, in which he has an eighth degree black belt.

Haynes grew up in Kings Cross, London, the son of a seamstress mother and carpenter father. He is one five children, and is a twin. His mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, resulting in his father having to support the family. While in England, he received a bachelor's degree in education from Victoria University. In England, he worked as a high school teacher. He then moved to Canada and earned a master's degree in science from from the University of Guelph and a PhD in medical research from the University of Toronto. At the age of 36, he moved to Tokyo where he worked for a pharmaceutical company writing science papers. In Tokyo, he trained with the riot police, and met his wife Cathy, who is from Australia, and also has a black belt in aikaido. After living in Japan, he moved back to Canada, eventually settling in Saanich in 2002.

Haynes ran for a sport on Saanich District Council in the 2014 municipal elections, running on a platform of keeping the cost of living affordable, economic development and government transparency. He was elected to council, finishing in 5th place (top 8 are elected), winning nearly 14,000 votes.

Haynes ran for mayor in the 2018 municipal elections, taking on incumbent mayor Richard Atwell. The election was embroiled by "legal confrontation and muckraking". Haynes defeated Atwell by nearly 5,000 votes, winning with 48% of the vote.

At the 2019 Union of BC Municipalities conference, Haynes indicated his support for lowering the voting age in municipal elections to 16.

While serving as mayor, Saanich adopted a plan to ban single-use plastic grocery bags.