01
Responsible Tax Practices
Make every dollar work harder, with careful consideration of the immediate and long-term impact on residents and businesses.
Set clear spending priorities, scrutinize budgets and major expenditures, and look for efficiencies before asking taxpayers for more. Strengthen long-term financial and asset planning, direct staff to pursue grants and outside funding (including Federal and Provincial), and consider the full life-cycle cost of decisions so today’s savings do not become tomorrow’s expensive problems.
02
Service, Infrastructure, & Communities
Protect the core services we rely on, invest responsibly in the infrastructure we need, uphold the OCP, and revitalize our communities.
Prioritize roads, water, sewer, fire protection, policing, and parks & recreation while planning ahead for aging infrastructure. Request plain language reports to help with transparency for the community. Use asset management to direct investment where it is needed most, follow through on the OCP and Local Area Plans, and reinvest in town centres, public spaces and the individual communities that make up North Cowichan.
03
Thoughtful, Informed Growth
Ensure growth is supported by the vital servicing it requires, respects existing neighbourhoods, maintains rural character, and balances development with long-term sustainability.
Connect development decisions to the infrastructure needed to support them to advise on growth planning in designated areas. Protect rural and agricultural lands, respect established neighbourhoods, and ensure new development contributes fairly to the infrastructure demands it creates. Work with the community and listen to their thoughts about what they want to see.
04
Safer Communities & Street Support
Work toward safer streets by bringing agencies together, improving coordination, and supporting practical solutions.
Set the table to strengthen coordination between RCMP, bylaw, outreach organizations, businesses, health providers and other levels of government. Improve the management and safety of public spaces, support practical street-level outreach and interventions, and advocate for the treatment, mental-health care, supportive housing and recovery services our communities need. Look at short and long-term options that other communities have used, and I have been a part of. Push for funding at all levels of government.
05
Environmental Stewardship
Protect our natural assets through responsible land-use planning and science-based decision making.
Use land-use planning, development requirements and environmental protections to safeguard forests, waterways, watersheds, sensitive ecosystems and natural assets. Strengthen climate resilience, protect drinking-water sources, and use credible science and local data to guide decisions while balancing environmental, community and economic needs.
06
Local Business and Economic Strength
Champion the businesses that keep our communities strong, support local jobs and investment, and create the conditions for new economic opportunities, growth, and resilience.
The key is to focus on thoughtful, well-informed, development. Reduce unnecessary barriers to investment, improve permitting and development processes, and strengthen our commercial centres. Work with local businesses and economic partners to attract responsible investment, diversify our economy, create jobs and expand the commercial and industrial tax base. Let's get the right mix of long term industry here that invests into our community.
07
Representing You
Council should belong to the people it serves. I will show up, listen, ask the tough questions, and make sure your voice has a real place in the decisions shaping our future.
Create regular opportunities for residents to connect, ask questions and be heard outside of formal public hearings. Bring community concerns forward, communicate clearly about major decisions, seek out voices that are often missing from the conversation, and make decisions grounded in evidence, public input and the long-term interests of North Cowichan. Consider how we can integrate other forms of participation such as community assemblies and advisory roles, and foster information uptake in the community.
It should go without saying, we need to foster inclusive communities, build strong and respectful relationships with our local First Nations, and lead thoughtfully. That also means looking at the structures that help people work together. I want to review the committees and working groups that have brought the Municipality, community organizations, agencies and other partners to the same table, strengthen the ones that work, and rebuild connections where they have been lost. We need to foster safe spaces and accessibility re-visiting outdated knowledge and re-thinking space use. Everyone deserves to feel included and a part of the community they live in.
ROLE OF COUNCIL: Council sets priorities, establishes policy, makes decisions and determines how public dollars are invested. Municipal staff bring that direction to life. A councillor’s responsibility is also to stay connected to the people they represent, bring their voices and concerns to the table, ask difficult questions, and remain accountable for the decisions they make. That responsibility is not something I would ever take lightly. I would be proud to serve our community and do the work that comes with it.