A Salt Spring that works for families.

Ganges is the heart of the island and the first thing visitors see. It deserves better than overflowing bins, broken sidewalks, and a waterfront that's hard to reach for anyone with a stroller, wheelchair, or walker. Here's what I suggest:

• Launch a Ganges Beautification program: landscaping, lighting, seating, public art, and a maintained waterfront walkway. No more dustbowl Centennial Park — we have to change the condition of this space and make it a usable green space.
• Make the village accessible — continuous sidewalks, curb cuts, safe crossings, and accessible washrooms. Let's do away with the tripping hazards and uneven areas that make spaces unsafe for pedestrians, and especially seniors.
• Clean up Ganges garbage: more bins, more frequent pickup, and a village-core litter plan that actually gets funded.
• Partner with the Chamber, local businesses, and volunteer groups so improvements stick.

Transit on Salt Spring should connect where people live to where they work, shop, and gather — not just run a few times a day on a route that doesn't fit our lives. Here's what I suggest:

• Build a true Village Transportation System: frequent, reliable service through Ganges and connecting Fulford, Vesuvius, and Long Harbour.
• Expand summer service to match ferry schedules and peak demand, reducing congestion and parking pressure in the village and avoiding leaving people stranded at ferry terminals.
• Push BC Transit and the CRD for evening and weekend service so workers and youth aren't stranded.
• Explore on-demand and shuttle options for lower-density areas.

Develop and implement solutions for garbage, recycling and compost diversion that work for locals and visitors. We need systems that do better and lead to zero waste. Here's what I suggest:

• Support a reduction in garbage costs for Salt Spring residents through better contracts, regional cost-sharing, and reduced hauling.
• Build a curb-side recycling pickup program so recycling is convenient, not a chore.
• Get the island composter program working — compost our own organics here on the island, close the loop, and produce soil for local farms and gardens.
• Reduce the volume we ship off-island, which cuts costs and emissions at the same time.

I'll bring a motion to the CRD Board declaring a housing emergency on Salt Spring and endorsing UBCM's call to make housing a human right. I won't pretend a declaration is the fix. A declaration gives no one new powers: the land-use tools sit with the Islands Trust, and the CRD's role is land, funding, permits, and services. The declaration is the signal. This is the work. Here's what I suggest:

• Adopt the CMHC and BC Housing definitions of affordable housing so every CRD program uses one clear, accountable standard.
• Create a CRD Approval in Principle program: a no-fee, one-week review that tells an affordable-housing proponent up front whether the CRD can service and support the project before they spend money on design.
• Fast-track affordable-housing applications through CRD building inspection, with set timelines and one point of contact.
• Waive CRD building permit and application fees for qualifying affordable-housing projects.
• Issue a public call for developers and non-profits to bring affordable projects forward, backed by CRD letters of support for provincial and federal grant applications, including Build Canada Homes programs.
• Pursue provincial and federal housing dollars aggressively through the Capital Region Housing Corporation and the regional housing fund, and make sure Salt Spring gets its share.
• Build a joint CRD–Islands Trust housing plan: suites, cottages, workforce housing, and density on serviced land, using OCP tools that already exist.
• Do the water and sewer capacity work that stops housing before it starts.

Families are the future of this island. Right now they're struggling to find childcare, and recreation is becoming a luxury. Here's what I suggest:

• Work to expand licensed childcare spaces through CRD facilities, partnerships with non-profits, and provincial childcare funding. Our lifestyles and transportation systems demand it, so why can't we have services to match?
• Deliver all-weather soccer fields so kids and adults can play year-round instead of losing the season to mud. Inadequate soccer fields are creating missed economic development opportunities, and it's time to change this.
• Improve family services overall: after-school programming, youth drop-in, and better coordination between the CRD, School District 64, and community organizations such as ICS, sports associations, and various activity service providers.

Today, an islander has to get an Islands Trust building permit before the CRD will even accept their application. That's two governments, two fees, two timelines, and months of delay for the same project. Here's what I suggest:

• Remove the requirement for an Islands Trust building permit as a precondition to a CRD building permit.
• Move to a single, coordinated application with clear timelines and one point of contact.
• Make CRD inspections faster, more predictable, and better staffed.
• Cut the red tape that stops people from building the suites, cottages, and repairs they're legally allowed to build.