Candidate Profile

I don’t know anyone who says municipal politics are sexy. While reality TV series like Property Brothers, Pawn Stars, and Ice Road Truckers draw ratings in the millions; on no planet would anyone binge Small Island Planners on Netflix. We see fiery clips and bombastic soundbites hit the national news from our provincial and federal counterparts, with little coverage on what governs our own local communities.

Municipal politics is about what happens in our backyard, about how the ecology of our daily lives play out.  It’s about the parks we bring our families to, the activities we do with our neighbours, and the businesses we attract to spend money in.  It’s about influencing the character of neighbourhoods and deciding what should (or shouldn’t) go where.

These backyard politics have deep consequences.  Land use planning brings with it our relationship with colonization and reconciliation.  Waste and water management carry our personal impacts on climate change.  Local commerce influences our alignment with supply chains and where we vote with our dollars.  While our island may be small, all oceans lead to it.

I’m standing for mayor in this election because I believe that now, more than ever, is the time to foster diverse, inclusive civic engagement. 

It is time to take stock of the historical lineage of community effort that has made Bowen the jewel that it is, ensuring that this ecological beacon of rural community off Vancouver’s coast keeps its identity intact.

The central issue of this election will be how to weave our diversity into common cause.  The ancient island tension of development versus conservation will be in play, no doubt.  So will our relationship with tourism and economic development.  These will need to be informed by small-island solutions to the big city housing problems we’ve inherited from the mainland.  Rebuilding community unity and resilience after the global pandemic should also be in mind, which cannot happen without innovative conversations about holistic recreation and community mental health.  All of this needs a much higher degree of transparency than we’ve had.

The central question, then, is this: can we evolve our municipal governance in a way that can hold the diverse perspectives these conversations will require?  How can we be better to each other?  Better yet, can those conversations draw in enough engagement to drive thoughtful policy making?

I think so.  I have enough youthful idealism to believe it’s possible and enough middle-aged realism to discern a path that makes it happen.