1. What made you decide to run in this election?
I truly believe that I have the skill set, knowledge and experience necessary to create positive change in Tahsis. The decline in our infrastructure and the steep tax burden on the citizens of Tahsis needs to be reversed and this will only happen by bringing in investment and creating an environment where more people are willing and financially able to live in Tahsis full time. Many ideas need to be explored or just restarted such as establishing a community forest around town, bringing in investment in our dormant shellfish aquaculture leases, broadening our tourism base, and making village-owned lands available for sale in order to increase our food security. I should also say that many people have been lobbying me to run again as they also feel that I am qualified to actually bring progress to Tahsis.
2. What part of your background (experience, education, skills etc.) would make you a good person in this office?
I have experience on Tahsis council which has given me a strong grasp of the issues here. I have learned through experience what works and doesnt work for this community. My work experience includes decades in the forest industry, management planning and environmental studies for government and industry, running a sewing business here, and bat research. For the last four years I have been coordinator for a bat research program across western Canada (Batcaver.org) with an annual budget of about $250,000. This includes planning, coordination, funding, logistics, field work, data analysis, writing reports, and media releases. Through my environmental research, I have successfully lobbied to protect rare ecosystems in BC. Weymer Creek Provincial Park and BC's first Wildlife Habitat Area just across the inlet from Tahsis are direct results of my work. I have developed many contacts in the BC government over the years and will be meeting soon with Premier Horgan regarding the McKelvie logging issue. I am the president of the Tahsis Heritage Society which runs the museum and I am also a director of the national Canadian Cave Conservancy. So, I have strong organizational skills and lots of experience with running meetings, lobbying and dealing with bureaucracy.
3. What is the most important issue facing Tahsis and what will you do to address it?
I would have to say economic development, because we cant fix our infrastructure or stave off bankruptcy without more investment in this town. I have suggested a few ideas for this in the first question but would also like to hear input from community members regarding this. Raising our profile beyond Tahsis will go a long way toward achieving economic self-sufficiency.
4. Any additional comments you would like to make?
Community building is from the ground up and the best I can do to serve this community is to use leadership to cut through the bureaucratic inertia that has stymied our efforts so far. Another community building effort I would like to see is establishing a local radio station to showcase our talent, engage the students, and use for announcing community events and safety issues.
The McKelvie Matters campaign which I cofounded is important to our future as we are talking about maintaining our access to safe water, reducing flood risks to town, saving our last unlogged watershed, protecting salmon and endangered species. We also want to eliminate the risk of slides from the planned roadbuilding and logging directly above town, which puts the safety of our school and town at risk from rockfalls. The fact that the logging has been delayed a year and that Premier Horgan has agreed to meet with me and discuss these issues is a positive first step, but as mayor, I could be much more effective in representing our concerns.
I love living in Tahsis and to this end have built many trails in the area, including the Leiner Boardwalk Trail. Anything that can be done to bring the great beauty of Tahsis to tourists is worthy of consideration.
I am a strong believer in community self-reliance and security. This means producing more local food, shellfish aquaculture, locally milled lumber, enhancing our planning and response to natural disasters, and improving our services to seniors so that they can live their lives in our village with dignity.
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