Protected. Responsible. Resilient. Accountable. Lasting.
Ask residents what they love about Saanich and they rarely begin with buildings. They talk about parks, urban forest, wetlands, Gary Oak ecosystems and the wildlife that shares this community with us. These are the places that make Saanich special. Environmental concerns and questions about accountable growth have risen together in recent years, and residents have made it clear that protecting these special places matters.
Residents shouldn’t have to choose between a growing community and a healthy environment, between new neighbours and mature trees, between attainable housing and clean streams. Saanich needs an approach to growth that protects what matters for everyone.
Environmental stewardship should guide how we grow together. Too many narratives frame this as protection versus development. That’s not how responsible communities grow. They build homes, protect habitat, and plan for the future together. The real question isn’t whether Saanich grows. It’s whether that growth respects the natural systems this community depends on.
Environmental stewardship is more than setting land aside. It is about treating wetlands, forests and watersheds as infrastructure in their own right, because they manage stormwater, reduce flooding, cool neighbourhoods and prevent costs that would otherwise fall on engineered systems and, ultimately, on taxpayers. At the same time, protecting these systems doesn’t mean growth has to stop. Every part of Saanich’s landscape matters. Development and stewardship must work as one system.
I’m running on protecting what makes Saanich home.
Why Environmental Stewardship Matters to Me
My involvement in this issue goes back more than fifteen years to advocacy that began with a simple concern: a piece of environmentally significant land in our community was at risk. Securing lasting protection required sustained work with residents, community organizations, non-government organizations and Municipal Hall, coordinated over many years and across multiple Councils.
That work resulted in protected status for Panama Flats. I know what it takes to turn a community environmental concern into lasting protection, because I have done it.
That experience became the beginning of over a decade of community advocacy on habitat protection, urban forest retention and responsible land-use decisions across Saanich. I’m proud to say my effort to help secure protected status for Panama Flats is a tangible example of what can happen when residents, community organizations and government work together towards a common goal.
Environmental stewardship isn’t resisting change. It’s guiding change responsibly:
- protecting biodiversity while creating attainable homes,
- preserving mature trees while accommodating responsible growth,
- improving transportation while protecting natural areas,
- strengthening infrastructure while respecting the environment around it.
My approach to environmental stewardship is grounded in both community advocacy and professional experience. During my career in information technology and management consulting, I worked with organizations across Canada and the United States to improve systems and simplify complex processes to provide better decision-support. As a former Director of Local Government, I developed a practical understanding land-use planning, permitting, licensing, finance and asset management. That experience taught me that complex decisions are rarely solved by looking at one issue in isolation. It taught me how interconnected municipal decisions really are, and how important it is to build environmental considerations into planning from the beginning rather than adding them once the major decisions have already been made. I understand the mechanisms required to turn environmental commitments into lasting results.
Current council has counterposed development and accountability, pitting urban expansion against environmental responsibility; however, in a practical government, fiscal and environmental accountability are the principles that guide development. Deficit spending and transparency have grown as issues at the same pace as environmental concerns. Residents deserve councillors who can explain the purpose behind every tax dollar, how it’s used, and how it benefits our community. Good stewardship means caring for today while protecting tomorrow.
Before Saanich commits to its next stage of growth, Council needs to understand which natural assets are irreplaceable and protect them accordingly. Our parks, forests, and wetlands aren’t just green space on a map. They are the systems Saanich depends on every day.
My approach is straightforward: protect what’s irreplaceable, guide growth responsibly, prioritize what matters most and make sure public decisions deliver lasting results.
Protecting biodiversity. Guiding growth responsibly. Delivering lasting results.
That’s protecting what matters.
My Environmental Priorities
1. Protect biodiversity and environmentally sensitive areas as growth continues.
Wetlands, watershed, flood plains, mature forests, streams and Garry oak ecosystems support habitat, ecosystems, biodiversity, species and services that can’t simply be relocated once they’re gone. They help make Saanich resilient for the future. Development should be planned around environmental constraints not the other way around. Protection decisions should be based on ecological evidence, not convenience.
2. Treat natural assets as infrastructure worth protecting.
Parks, rivers and creeks, forests, and natural areas are essential to Saanich residents’ quality of life. Wetlands manage stormwater. Mature trees provide shade and reduce flooding and urban heat. Healthy watersheds prevent costs that would otherwise require expensive engineered solutions. Natural infrastructure deserves the same planning discipline as roads and pipes.
3. Strengthen the urban forest through development, not after it.
Mature trees provide shade, habitat, stormwater management, carbon storage and neighbourhood character. Tree retention and canopy targets should be built into a project’s design from the start, not treated as a condition to be negotiated away once construction is underway. Trees planted after the fact rarely replace what was lost.
4. Treat watersheds as connected systems.
Decisions about one property affect what happens downstream. Saanich needs to plan drainage, runoff and habitat protection at the watershed level, not lot by lot. Connected systems require connected planning.
5. Build environmental review into planning from the beginning.
Environmental considerations shouldn’t arrive at the end of a project as a final checklist item. They belong at the start, alongside housing, transportation and infrastructure planning. Good environmental outcomes come from early decisions, not late corrections.
6. Support community-led stewardship and restoration.
Much of Saanich’s environmental progress has come from residents and community organizations willing to do the work over many years. I’ve seen this firsthand as President of the Carey Area Residents Association, Chair of the Saanich Community Association Network, and member of Saanich’s Natural Areas, Trails and Parks Advisory Committee. Council should be a genuine partner to that effort, not a barrier to it. Community knowledge and effort are part of how this work gets done.
7. Connect environmental planning to housing, transportation and fiscal decisions.
A healthy environment and a growing, affordable community aren’t competing goals. Saanich needs housing decisions that protect sensitive areas, transportation planning that reduces unnecessary paving and runoff, and budgets that reflect the long-term value of natural infrastructure. These files shouldn’t be treated separately. Protecting natural assets today can prevent greater costs tomorrow. That is why environmental decisions should consider lifecycle costs, long-term risk and the value of natural systems when comparing solutions. Sometimes the most responsible environmental decision is also the most financially responsible one.
8. Deliver on commitments responsibly.
Environmental commitments require clear objectives, real monitoring and honest reporting. Residents should be able to see what was promised, what was protected, and whether it held up over time. Good environmental policy only matters if government can deliver it.
Environmental Stewardship Is Infrastructure and Infrastructure Is People:
- a family walking through a park that still has mature trees,
- a child who grows up thinking a heron or an eagle overhead is normal,
- a homeowner whose basement doesn’t flood because a wetland still does its job,
- a neighbourhood that stays cool in the summer because the tree canopy was protected,
- a volunteer who spent years restoring a stream and can still point to it today,
- a resident who knows Panama Flats will be there for their grandchildren.
These aren’t competing interests. They’re part of a community that grows responsibly.
My experience protecting Panama Flats reinforced Lasting results come from bringing people together. I will continue to support meaningful partnerships, stewardship, restoration, environmental education and opportunities for residents to participate in protecting the places they value. I’ve spent more than a decade around tables with residents, community associations, municipal staff, elected officials and other levels of government. I’ve listened, researched, built coalitions and worked through difficult conversations. I’ve stayed with issues long enough to help achieve results. Panama Flats is proof that community advocacy can lead to lasting protection.
These experiences shapes how I will approach environmental decisions at Council. I will bring a practical, systems-based approach to environmental stewardship: protect what’s irreplaceable, guide growth responsibly, prioritize what matters most and ensure public decisions deliver lasting results.
Proven stewardship not just promises.
Protecting what makes Saanich home.Protecting What Matters.