1. How should North Cowichan approach new development in the municipality?
North Cowichan should approach new development in the municipality by respecting and abiding by the Official Community Plan.
It wisely directs growth to our urban centres that already have infrastructure.
The benefits are walkable neighbourhoods, more family time, and an efficient road and infrastructure network while preserving farms, forests, watersheds and the rural quality of life we cherish.
There is a backlog of development processing times so, as a councillor, I would recommend we review the existing development approval processes to determine what may be redundant and what could be delegated to staff.
I would also recommend making it a priority to update our nearly 30-year-old zoning bylaw, which creates unnecessary delays in approving development proposals.
2. What should North Cowichan do to address climate change?
North Cowichan has a Climate Action Energy Plan that was first introduced in 2013 and later updated in 2022.
It seeks to reduce North Cowichan’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent between now and 2050, and to reduce overall energy usage, which saves households money.
For the past 10 years, the municipality has dedicated 0.5 per cent of property taxes to a Climate Action and Energy Reserve Fund to fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency.
North Cowichan has used these funds to improve energy efficiency at the Cowichan Aquatic Centre and the Fuller Lake Arena, and to support community projects like Cowichan Green Community’s Food Hub on Beverly Street and providing residents with incentives to install heat pumps.
It’s important to note that the Climate Action and Energy Plan isn’t just about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it’s also about improving energy efficiency which saves us all money as taxpayers.
3. How should North Cowichan be dealing with social issues, particularly the social disorder in the highway corridor area?
As a municipality, North Cowichan is limited in what it can do to deal with social issues, particularly social disorder.
Most of the municipal efforts centre around using policing, bylaw enforcement and firefighting resources to breakup encampments, prevent loitering, and put out warming fires.
As a councillor, I would support hiring more bylaw enforcement officers and extend hours to weekends.
Also, I would provide more resources to North Cowichan’s clean-up crew so they expand their efforts to clean up garbage and drug paraphernalia in
the highway corridor area.
Additionally, bring back a police auxiliary so we can get more eyes on the street and prevent crime.
I would also lobby the senior levels of government to do more, including building an addictions treatment facility in the Cowichan Valley so people can overcome their addictions.
I would also look to programs that have been successful like “Program: Car 60” which is a program partnership through health authorities and the RCMP.
It provides emergency response to crisis calls related to mental health situations or crisis concerns.
A plainclothes RCMP member and psychiatric nurse work together to help de-escalate situations, provide crisis intervention and connect people to community services and supports.
Finally, I would implement the Safer Community Plan starting with the 2025 budget and business planning process.
4. What should North Cowichan do to see more affordable housing provided in the municipality?
The following are a few things that North Cowichan could do to see more affordable housing provided in the municipality.
Make municipal land available for affordable housing developments and partner with non-profits and co-op housing providers; fast-track development applications for affordable housing; require a minimum percentage of major development projects to include affordable housing units; and advocate to the provincial and federal governments for funding for building and operating affordable housing.
5. What would you like to see done to keep property tax increases as low as possible?
We are all struggling with today’s high cost of living, and property taxes are part of that.
In order to keep property tax increases as low as possible, it’s important that North Cowichan works hard to find savings where it can in order to reduce the tax burden of property owners.
Historically, North Cowichan has increased property taxes at a lower rate than many like-sized communities.
The reason for a high tax increase this year is in part the pressures out of North Cowichan’s control, a result of service costs downloaded from senior levels of government, like the E-comm 911 service that is now costing North Cowichan $800,000 per year.
As councillor I would like to see more industrial and commercial development, where appropriate, which will allow North Cowichan to generate new tax revenue without burdening residential taxpayers.
