My Platform
Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with people from all walks of life who call Victoria their home and want to see our City be better than it is right now. I have those people, as well as so many subject matter experts and mentors that I have had throughout the years, to thank for the development of my policy intentions for City Council. This is a living document that I will continue to finalize as I talk to thousands of more people throughout our city before the writ drops in September.
The goal of any elected official should be to leave their post knowing that they accomplished what they set out to do, and that what they did changed the lives of their constituents for the better. That is what I am setting out to do today, and if elected, everyday.
Life in our City is too expensive. People should not have to move to Langford to afford living in Victoria. My partner and I plan to raise a family in Victoria, but every time we do the math, our dreams feel out of reach given how expensive this city is. I want this to be a city my kids and yours can grow up in, find a job in, and not be priced out by inflating costs.
Build housing that people can actually afford by investing in co-op and non-profit housing. We need to speed up permitting times, allow for modular home building, and find spaces where land can be better used.
Make everyday life more affordable by lowering recreation fees and expanding free transit.
Lower your food costs through supporting local farmers and good food boxes
Support free community spaces and events. As costs rise, people need free and low-cost spaces, and things to do. Libraries should be open seven days a week, and the city should invest in our community centres.
Tackle property taxes. Victoria is paying more than our fair share. We need to fight for other municipalities to take on some of the costs in our region.
Lower your energy bills by working to get more heat pumps and solar panels on buildings.
Cost of Living
Housing
We are in a housing crisis, and we need to come at it from all angles to make sure people in our city can continue to live here. I’ve met so many people in Victoria who want to build community and joy in our City, only to find themselves either priced out of our community, or too stressed about making their next rent or mortgage payment to feel like they’re a part of their neighbourhood. High rents are making people move back in with their parents and cutting flexibility out of household budgets. I’m tired of 300 square feet condos. Homes should be built for families to live and grow in. Let’s build more housing, affordable housing, and protect renters.
Homes for families and not investors. My priority is to encourage the building of three- and four-bedroom units where families have space to build a life in Victoria.
Build homes people can afford. We need more purpose-built co-ops and below-market housing. Speed up permitting times, encourage module homes, and work with the federal government to fund co-op homes.
Increase housing supply. Not building will only worsen this housing crisis. I will support and advocate for housing projects that encourage mixed-use spaces, factory built homes, and multi-story dwellings.
Fighting for renters
Stop evicting tenants and demolishing good housing to enrich private equity. This is not the time to destroy affordable housing. When people’s homes are working for them and are in good repair, demolition should not be the first step.
Mobilize unused land and buildings. Let’s use empty lots and abandoned buildings that are being left to rot until they can only be demolished and turn them into affordable housing.
Fix your rental unit when you need it. Disputing a necessary repair with a landlord takes time that most renters don’t have. The City should step in and provide these repairs, and bill the party that is responsible for fixing them with an included service charge.
Allow pets in purpose-built rentals in Victoria.
Expand the Rent Bank to support renters when they need it most. The Rent Bank can be used to support tenants when facing a short-term crisis with up to $3000, and should be
Keep rentals climate resilient by enforcing rental heat bylaws and working with housing providers to invest in heat pumps
Healthcare
Healthcare should not be a municipal issue, but when people in our community go without family doctors for decades, someone needs to step in. The Colwood Clinic is a success story that should serve as a model for municipalities in delivering healthcare to those left behind. Colwood is recruiting physicians, and we need to strive for bold solutions here in Victoria too. Healthcare is a right, and every elected leader should act like it. More of the same is no longer acceptable.
Bring family doctors to the city by building purpose-built housing for doctors and nurse practitioners in return for practicing in Victoria.
Get healthcare when you need it by following the Colwood model, and start a city-owned walk-in clinic, so you can get the care you need, when you need it.
No one should feel unsafe in our City. We need to reimagine our regional public safety plan so that Victoria is not shouldering all the costs of policing in the CRD. We need to make our community safer while prioritizing our most vulnerable populations. Police officers are not mental health workers.
Introduce a regional police force. Not only will it save on costs, but it will keep standards consistent across all the municipalities.
Invest in youth programs. When we invest in prevention for youth becoming street-entrenched, it works. We need programming in our community and recreation centers that keep youth supported.
Create a special unit to respond to theft from local businesses.
Addressing crime and keeping people safe. We need to advocate for, and when possible adopt, sensible bail reform policies.
Reflective Street Lines. Driving at night in the rain should not be this dangerous. We need to add reflectiveness on our street lines.
Public Safety
Homelessness
Homelessness in Victoria is a systemic failure that affects everyone. It has touched all of our lives, whether it be through a friend, neighbour or family. People deserve dignity and safety, and it is our responsibility as a community to see that people are getting the care that they need. Public parks and green spaces should not be the only answer for someone’s shelter, and the enforcement of 7 a.m. tent removal bylaws costs taxpayers a small fortune just to impound and destroy people’s belongings or watch over them as they pack up their things for an hour. This doesn’t get better if we try to pretend homelessness is an individual’s problem. It’s our problem, and we need to start at the source. We can’t afford half-measures anymore, and we can and we should do better for unhoused residents in our City.
Get people off the streets and into housing. We need to be building all types of housing, but we especially need a new type of third-stage housing that allows people to move through supportive housing with fewer barriers and into housing they can afford, and live in longer-term.
Ensure bathroom access, always. Open more 24/7 washrooms downtown.
Continue funding the housing relocator. The housing relocator has helped house over 75 people from our parks into housing.
Prevent deaths. Too many people are dying every day from the toxic drug crisis. We need to continue to support harm reduction and safe supply.
Stop the sweeps. We waste too much money on fences and street sweeps, money we can put towards getting people the support they need.
Get more mental health and addiction treatment options. We have to work with the province to open up more addictions treatment options in our city.
Put money behind prevention. Let’s stop the crisis before it happens. We need to invest in youth programming and work with local youth organizations to create a housing liaison to support children in precarious living situations.
Arts & Recreation
Victoria is the best place in the world to live, and that’s due in part to the public spaces we’ve curated and our blossoming arts community. Cultural grant funding from the city has supported theatre, ballet, and film directly, but has also supported artists and makers through the Victoria Tool Library, where you can borrow anything from an airbrush kit to a table saw. The revitalization of Rifflandia and breakout success of Phillips Backyard shows that Victorians want to go out and have fun with their friends, and the City needs to support that. As for everyday recreation, there is so much room we can do! I fought for the revival of Crystal Pool because I know how much it means for families of all income levels to have an opportunity to recreate, and that’s why I want to introduce a CRD-wide recreation pass.
Build a city for artists. Find city partnerships for spaces and events for local artists.
Create an art hub in our city by building on the Rock Bay revitalization plan
Faster permitting for more community festivals and events. We will also continue to fund My Great Neighbourhood Grants.
Lower CODA Fees for local performers, so artists can afford to build their audience.
Preserve a downtown movie theatre. Both major theatres downtown are at risk of closing for good. People shouldn’t have to leave our city to watch a movie.
Better beaches. Easy: allow beer on beaches.
More parks and sport courts. Build more parks, basketball, hockey boxes, tennis and pickle ball courts in our city.
Make parks fun year round. Adding infrastructure to our parks and beaches like BBQs, and pavilions for when it rains.
Lower recreation fees to make recreation accessible for everyone.
Establish Community centres in James Bay and Jubilee. Every neighbourhood should have a space for people to come together.
Build a Quadra Village Library, because having fun isn't hard with a library card.
Climate Change & Transportation
Climate change is an existential threat that is too big to look away from, and there is a role for council to try to protect our city from its effects and reduce how much we are contributing to it. This means trying to find ways to incentivize people to actually use low-emission transportation by connecting bike lanes between municipalities and improving bus service and frequency. We want to make sure we are building sustainable buildings, and investing in projects that protect our environment.
Island Rail. Now is the time to invest in light rail options to connect municipalities to each other.
Keep temperatures low with an expanded tree canopy.
Make transit more convenient. Have buses run more frequently and reliably. Lower transit fees and build more bus shelters.
Support active transportation and cycling infrastructure by adding lighting and better signage around bike lanes, and linking our bike lanes to other municipalities’.
Lower our city’s carbon emissions. The current Crystal Pool is one of the City of Victoria’s biggest source of carbon emissions, by ensuring a new pool is built with high energy standards we can lower emissions in our city.
High penalties for companies who do not effectively dispose of building materials and other waste properly, and harm people or our environment.
Give students a vote on the Transit Commission. The UVIC Universal Pass adds almost 22,000 students to the transit system, and while students have a seat, they do not have a vote.
Thriving Communities
I want to help foster a city that works for its residents. That means caring about the little things like garbage and recycling being picked up on time, to bigger things like building out our cycling network to connect with other municipalities’. The city should invest in shared spaces to make it easier for someone to start a small eatery and keep the money local! We also need to ensure community associations have the tools they need to make their neighbourhoods stand out and grow in their own ways and help keep our city a great place to live as a result.
Downtown revitalization. Update Victoria’s Economic Development plan to bring new life into our city.
Lower rents for small businesses by introducing an empty-storefront tax.
Refresh our city by continuing to fund the Downtown Victoria Business Association to support local businesses with graffiti removal and facade repairs.
Better use of downtown spaces. Create a registry of businesses that are open partial hours, and encourage the space to be rented out to new businesses during off hours.
Make getting around easier. Road construction should make sense. We should not be digging up the same street multiple times and closing off central roads at the same time.
More opportunities for small businesses. Allow local businesses like coffee, ice cream, or hot dog stands to operate in select parks.
Create welcoming communities. By extending the mandate of the International Decade for People of African Descent Advisory Committee, and promoting cultural groups and festivals in our city.
Rat patrol. Help curtail the rat and mouse population in our city. Higher guidelines for construction sites, and city wide rat traps.