Enhanced Liveability

Keeping Oak Bay unique, liveable and enjoyable is important to everyone I speak with. The way I look at it is that when I go to the mall, I have an expectation to find different stores selling different products - if they all sold the same thing that would be boring and give me no choice.  Neighbourhood’s are the same, we choose the neighbourhood where we live to meet our personal list - do we want to live next to a park, in a single family dwelling or an apartment or town house? Do we want to be able to ride our bike to work or drive etc. These are all things that we make individual choices about when we choose the community we want to live in. The special residential quality of Oak Bay has not occurred by accident. I embrace what has made our municipality a successful community and such an attractive place to live. I strongly support the process of revitalizing and improving our playgrounds, parks and public beaches. I will work hard to ensure the preservation of Oak Bay’s heritage and environment, but at the same time, we also need to embrace thoughtful change that will keep our community desirable and a place where people want to put down roots and raise a family or retire.   

Housing Strategy

One of the most important things the current council was tasked with was the creation of a suitable Housing Strategy.  We currently don’t have anything in place that can meet our community’s changing housing needs. We have recently passed the Housing Needs Strategy and we need to find ways to implement this in a timely way. Secondary Suites have recently been approved by the council and this is a good first step towards helping to address the housing crisis in our region. Along with this, we need to ensure we are creating the right by-laws to fulfill the intentions and desires of Oak Bay citizens.

Infrastructure and Taxes

It’s important for Council to make sound decisions that keep property taxes at a responsible level while still ensuring we are able to maintain and upgrade municipal infrastructure. Since 2017 capital investment in our infrastructure has more than doubled which is good news. We had been failing at putting enough money into our infrastructure, but we are on the right path now. However, like many municipalities, we have serious issues with our aging infrastructure and we will need to look to the Province and Federal government to help augment the money needed to make replacements in a timey manner. In the constrained environment of local government, fiscal management and balanced budgets are crucial. 

Deer Management

Let’s be clear. The deer in Oak Bay belong to the Province, and it is the Province who should be taking care of the problem and paying for it. The bottom line is that Oak Bay has too many deer. Reducing their number through traffic accidents and even implementing a contraception program is not the answer to the increasing deer issue.  The number of deer killed in traffic accidents in Oak Bay has increased dramatically over the years. This trend will continue if nothing else is done. The rise in human – deer incidents is past the tipping point. The contraception program has help a small amount, but I believe we will still have to do something else to reduce the number of deer we currently have in our community. We need to get the numbers down to something a lot more manageable and we need to do it now.

We must push the government to address the need for urban deer management before another pet is killed or another human is injured.

Transparency and Engagement

Having served on Oak Bay Council for four terms (2005 to 2011, 2014 to 2022), I have a deep appreciation of our community. I am fair-minded and non-partisan and don't believe that slates serve the best interests of Oak Bay. I am a strong proponent of more open and accountable governance. I also believe that we should we hold regular Town Hall Meetings to help increase the engagement of our residents. It has also been suggested to me that we might consider appointing a liaison Councillor for each neighbourhood, which is something I know they currently do in the City of Victoria.