July 28, 2006
Finally... with the recent Federal election over, it's safe to say that - in terms of our democratic electoral process - all's quiet on the West Shore front. With the last of a long line of elections behind us, everyone who has been elected at the municipal, regional, provincial and federal level is now going to stay put for a few years. It's not often that elections line up sequentially like this and while the electorate may be exhausted by the never-ending campaigning of late, it'll be a while before you have to go to the polls again. In the meantime I'm hopeful that we, your elected representatives, can actually spend some time working together - across our political differences - to serve our communities better.
Anyone who has ever had to navigate through government bureaucracy knows that there are many gaps, overlaps and intersections between the various levels of government. We, as elected representatives, can minimize some of that confusion by working together, proactively, to come up with constructive and innovative ways of addressing issues of mutual concern. It's this kind of community building that I want to foster.
During the Federal election many people in the Langford area got a letter in their mail boxes from the Bear Mountain Master Partnership advocating against a particular party. While it may well have been their right, under the Elections Act, to do so - I think the tone of the letter was confrontational and the content inaccurate. But the real problem with the letter was it did nothing to build community - it did quite the contrary. Divide and conquer is not a strategy I advocate. I think we can get more good things done, if we find areas of agreement rather than fixate on the things we disagree about. This is the approach I plan to take with all my constituents and with all the other elected representatives with whom I share a constituency.
We all have a mandate from our constituents to work toward improving our communities - why not do it together? I recognize that we may differ on specific issues, but I feel strongly that we have an obligation to maximize our efforts to achieve positive results at the regional, municipal, provincial and federal level. I'm not alone in this thinking. I have already met with recently elected mayors and councilors from Metchosin, Langford, Sooke and communities above the Malahat and have plans to meet with Highlands in the near future. Now that Keith Martin has been re-elected I look forward to continuing to work with him to find solutions to the challenges we face across the south island. Harnessing the creativity of our community leaders and citizens is what all voters expect of their representatives.
These meetings have been beneficial and there's lots to talk about: after all, there are schools to build, child and family services to provide, transit to improve, roads to fix, seniors housing to expand, jobs to create and green space to protect - to name but a few of our challenges. I'm looking forward to it all. Working with all points of view and all perspectives we can build the communities we all want, now and into the future. If you want to help, contact my community office (391-2801) and let's get started.
