Nov
2
By Doreen Marion Gee
Well readers, it is time to head to the polls again on November 15 to elect a new Victoria Mayor and Council. This time, our newspaper is bringing you the 'skinny' on all the candidates for Mayor of our fabulous city. We asked all of the candidates to focus on James Bay with two questions: What James Bay issue should have the highest priority? Why? Hopefully their responses will help all of you to make an informed decision on voting day about your choice as to who will lead this city for the next four years. And remember to please vote on November 15! Voting is our most powerful tool to bring in the people who will improve our lives and the community overall. Please don't waste that golden opportunity to make a difference. According to the 2006 Census, James Bay has second largest population in Victoria. We have the numbers to make real change happen! See you at the polling station in November.
Here are all the responses from the mayoral candidates “as is” - in alphabetical order:
Stephen Andrew:
James Bay is one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Victoria. James Bay has history. James Bay has variety of style and architecture. There is a great mix of ages and incomes. But the neighbourhood has challenges too. There is development pressure on James Bay. I welcome good projects, development that has sought neighbourhood input, and that maintains good architectural style and variety. It’s important to preserve the character of James Bay. The planned development of Capital Park will change the neighbourhood as you approach the Inner Harbour. I know the developers are working with the James Bay Neighbourhood Association and other interested citizens to make sure it is the best project we can have for the area. Might this not be a golden opportunity to remove the so-called bunker on the south east lawns of the Parliament Buildings? But Capital Park will also emphasize how tired looking the James Bay Centre is becoming. I would like to see that key area beautified and made more pedestrian friendly. James Bay is also an area frequented by tourists, thousands of them coming from the cruise ships at Ogden Point. I was pleased to see the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority’s projection for cruise ship visits next year. What is gratifying is that the cruise lines are hearing what James Bay residents have been saying, and scheduling more of the visits during daylight hours. While the cruise ships bring benefits to the local economy, they also bring increased traffic to James Bay. I know the JBNA and residents have been looking for solutions to some of the congestion. The GVHA has opted for less polluting buses. I would like to see quiet electric vehicles in operation. A water shuttle was tried, though found wanting. Passengers should be encouraged to walk into town. I have no magic solution, but I will work with the citizens of James Bay, the transportation companies and the Harbour Authority to continue to mitigate any negative effects. Unfortunately negative effects can come in the air as well as on the ground. Sulphur Dioxide levels can affect those with asthma and other breathing difficulties. I was hoping that shore power might have been a solution, but the GVHA’s study clearly showed it was uneconomical. We should continue to monitor the air quality, and push for cleaner burning fuels used by the ships. Let’s keep James Bay as a jewel in the City of Victoria’s crown.
Changes the Clown: Rob Duncan
What James Bay issue should have the highest priority? - The unacknowledged and unaddressed crisis of child poverty permeates the entire Victoria community. 1 in 5 children and 1 in 2 children of single mothers in Victoria live in poverty, and James Bay is certainly no different than the rest of the city in that way. Changes regards this as profoundly unacceptable in such an affluent society.
Why? - British Columbia has the highest rate of child poverty among Canadian provinces and astonishingly, this has been the case for 9 of the last 10 years. The provincial government stubbornly persists in ignoring the problem, and BC remains, for example, one of only two provinces that has no anti-poverty strategy. Changes the Clown believes that, as the capital city of the province with the perennially highest rate of child poverty in the country and in view of the provincial government's complete abdication of its responsibility, the City of Victoria should demonstrate how this unacknowledged social crisis can be addressed at the municipal level, despite the fact that the crisis of child poverty formally falls under provincial and not municipal jurisdiction. The Victoria community needs (1) an affordable childcare program like the one recently undertaken by the City of Vancouver, and (2) a living wage policy similar to but stronger than the one that has been in place in the City of New Westminster since 2010. These initiatives can easily be funded through multiple efficiencies to be identified in various aspects of the City budget. Changes wants to get the politicians and other people talking about ideas like these during the election campaign.
Ida Chong:
The most important issue to James Bay owners and renters is how their money has been spent at City Hall. $120 from the average renters' income goes to paying property taxes each month. Tax rates have gone up 34% since Dean Fortin was elected mayor - the tax on a $500,000 home will have gone from ~ $1,650 TO ~$2,650 if my opponent is re-elected. This money from James Bay residents has gone to pay for huge cost overruns on the Blue Bridge Boondoggle. If elected I will not treat James Bay renters' and owner's money as my own personal mayoral piggy bank.
Dean Fortin (incumbent):
As mayor, I have always enjoyed coming to meet with James Bay neighbours, either at my Open Door sessions at the the James Bay Coffee Shop or community meetings with the James Bay Neighbourhood Association. Recently, the JBNA facilitated a meeting between myself and 60 or so residents. Top concerns were cruise ship traffic and cruise ship emissions, which are an issue every summer. Recognizing that cruise ship emissions are an area of federal regulation, we are using our voice as BC's capital city to push the federal government to implement low-sulphur fuel requirements and expedite the installation of scrubbers on cruise ship smokestacks. With regards to the buses and taxis, the long-term solution is to have people walking downtown from Ogden Point. Right now, approx. 30% of cruise ship passengers walk into town and that's not good enough. We're installing wayfinding signs now and are working on the David Foster Way to make it easier for residents and visitors alike to walk downtown. The easier it is to walk, the fewer buses we'll have on the street. As well, I'm proud of the changes we've made to Fishermans' Wharf Park, and we're working hard to ensure that we maintain affordable housing in James Bay and ensure amenities such as a library branch are included in the Capital Walk project on Michigan St. I look forward to your support, and am excited by the chance to work with James Bay, one of our most active and dedicated communities, for another four years.
Riga Godron:
What James Bay issue should have the highest priority? - Socio-economic disparity resulting in the great difficulty to meet the cost of living in James Bay for most residents.
Why? - My brother Ricardo Don Randall Godron (October 26th 1979-December 31st 2006) lived his entire adult life in James Bay until he no longer could take the suffocating poverty in which he had become enveloped and he jumped from a balcony on the 16th floor of The Chateau Victoria Hotel. Ricardo aged out of foster care at the age of nineteen and moved into an apartment on Niagara street. He got a job as a grocery bagger at Thrifty foods on Menzies.
He got married in 2000 and shortly there-after they had a son. The Ministry for Children and Families routinely investigates former foster children. The child protection worker told my sister-in-law that she had to take her 4 year old and move into a James Bay home for Women and Children transitioning from domestic abuse. My brother hired a lawyer and sought access and visitation. During the custody court trial an allegation of stalking was made and my brother was incarcerated. My brother lost guardianship of his son. In order to gain access to visitation he had to meet a condition of maintaining his residence. Thrifty's was only giving him 15 hours a week of minimum wage work. My brother tried to collect an old debt and things quickly spiraled out of control. He was arrested and held in Wilkinson Correctional facilities from September of 2004 until June of 2006. Once released from Wilkinson Ricardo was homeless and slept in Beacon Hill Park. The winter of 2006 was extremely cold and several times Victoria Police awoke my brother when the public called to report a deceased person in the park. Myself and my relatives were completely unaware that my younger brother was living outside. January 1st 2007 I got a call from my sister to let me know that my brother was no longer with us. I know that this is just one example of not making ends meet; however, there are many residents of James Bay that could benefit from municipal policies that prioritize people over profits.
Lisa Helps:
What James Bay issue should have the highest priority? - I came to the James Bay New Horizons senior's centre do do budget workshops during my time as a councillor. I heard many of the concerns of James Bay residents - cruise ship emissions, buses, loud motorcycles, a feeling that City Hall doesn't listen, and more. But what really stuck with me, and what I've been hearing over and over again from many residents of James Bay from seniors to young families: Victoria is getting unaffordable and that makes it hard for me to live here. One older woman at the James Bay budget workshop put this so well. She stood up at the microphone and said, "Thank you Lisa, thank you council for capping property taxes at no more than 3.25% per year for the next three years. But you know what? My pension is not going to increase by 10% over the next three years. How am I going to afford to live here?"
Why? - Affordable housing, food, transportation, recreation are critical parts of living a good life. Not having these things causes stress and worry. I met a senior from James Bay at the James Bay Market last Saturday. She was living in a small bachelor suite and barely hanging on. Another James Bay family I met on the doorstep recently had two parents, with three jobs between them, barely able to make ends meet. At the same time as working to find better solutions to bus traffic, working with the GVHA on cruise ship emissions, listening to our residents in all neighbourhoods, City Hall needs to make better decisions on spending and projects, spend your hard-earned tax dollars better, and keep property taxes in line with inflation or better. This will help to address affordability for both renters (who pay property taxes indirectly through rent) and James Bay homeowners.
Jason Ross:
What James Bay issue should have the highest priority? I think the highest priority issue facing James Bay is a lack of ongoing, responsive, and timely conversation with city council.
Why? I've watched the James Bay Neighbourhood Association make a number of presentations to council over this term and the way that council handles such presentations is disappointing. I recall a presentation to council on obtaining a noise profile study for the harbour airport which requested council make a request to the federal Ministry of Transportation. I also recall a presentation discussing the environmental and health issues related to the pollution from the cruise ships, the lack of comprehensive monitoring equipment across the city to cover changes in wind direction, and the proposed solution to require scrubbers for cruise ships docked at Victoria's harbour. Council's current policy to simply receive such presentations without comment is a hindrance to ongoing, responsive, and timely conversation. I understand that council should not make snap decisions based on a single presentation, but if the issue is important enough for a neighbourhood association to bring before council, the presenters should at least leave the meeting with a promise to follow-up the conversation in more detail and a rough idea when this might occur. Council should also act as a facilitator, bringing together the various affected or interested parties and set the stage for a meaningful conversation. As another example, the James Bay Neighbourhood Plan has not been updated since 1993 and should be reviewed in context with the Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaws to ensure consistency across all plans. I believe all planning documentation and bylaws should be jointly reviewed by the community and council on a regular basis, identifying sections needing updating, highlighting areas of contention, and encouraging discussion. All neighbourhood issues should be part of an ongoing discussion, with regular updates, periodic summarizing of the work to date, and scheduled re-evaluation of goals to make sure they keep relevant in a constantly changing environment.
David Shebib:
Declined to be interviewed by email or by phone. It has been reported that David Shebib intends to run in all 13 municipalities.