👋 Hi! I’m Joel Grenz. My wife and I moved to the Parksville area in 2016 and have been raising our three kids here. I run Motiontide, a digital agency that does marketing and communications and creates custom software for businesses, nonprofits, and governments. I have a law degree from UBC. I was elected to Parksville City Council in 2022, where I serve on both of the City’s water boards and as an alternate director on the Regional District of Nanaimo.

Learn more: City of Parksville: council appointments

I live in Area G, just outside Parksville’s boundary; the city limits are at the edge of our backyard. My family loves living close enough to walk to downtown and City Hall. I’ve served Parksville for four years at the council table, on both of the City’s water boards, and as Parksville’s alternate director on the regional district. Our family’s life is here. It’s where our kids took dance, skating, and martial arts, where we shop and eat out, where we volunteer, and where we’ve been part of the community since 2016.

Some people have told me that councillors are less likely to raise taxes if they’ll see the increase on their own tax bill. The picture is more complex than that; renters, for example, don’t see a direct tax increase either. My aim is to make prudent financial decisions (or any decisions) based on how they affect the people who elected me, and those who will come after us who don’t yet have a voice, not on how they affect me.

I’ve been interested in politics and government since I was a kid. I volunteered on my first campaign, a federal one, in 2008, and went on to work on campaigns at every level. In 2022 the timing lined up: all three of our kids were in high school and my business could run without me in the office every day. Service mattered in the home I grew up in. Local government is a way I can use my experience, interests, and background to contribute to my community.

I appeared on Dragons’ Den in an episode that first aired in January 2013 (parts of it were rebroadcast in a recent anniversary special). After law school I co-founded a fitness products company, and we pitched our portable suspension trainer, the Human Trainer, to the Dragons. Three of them offered to go in together on a $500,000 investment. We turned it down because we didn’t agree with their valuation, and because a Den deal gives the investors a long option on your company with no guarantee they’ll close. We were already selling in major Canadian retailers and distributed in several other countries, so we didn’t accept the deal on those terms. I left that company when we moved here in 2016.

I’m running to follow through on the work I’ve done over four years on council. The next term decides where Parksville’s water comes from, what happens at Greig Road, and what our new Official Community Plan says. Every one of those needs regional partners and provincial and federal funding. Building those relationships, and bringing the community along with the decisions, is the part of the job only a mayor can do. It’s the work I’ve been doing for four years, and I love it.

Parksville has grown, and our water, healthcare, and community services need to catch up. None of that happens alone. It takes a Parksville that’s connected across our region, because when we work together we get more done (our water system is already a regional partnership). Connected to Victoria and Ottawa, so the growth they’re asking of us comes with the funding to support it. And connected to you, with a City Hall that listens, gives you notice early, and follows through. That’s how we build a safer, greener, more welcoming Parksville, where no matter your age, stage, or walk of life, you can thrive.

What sets me apart is breadth of experience, and relationships. I bring the perspective of a parent, a business owner, and four years on council. Over those four years I’ve gone the extra mile to build relationships with local governments across our region, and with provincial and federal staff and elected officials. I’ve served on both of Parksville’s water boards, learning this critical file in depth, and on two Federation of Canadian Municipalities committees. I’ve taken Parksville’s issues to Victoria and Ottawa, including a resolution asking the province to base housing targets on water, healthcare, and infrastructure, which local governments across BC endorsed. Next term, council faces many big decisions: water, our community plan, healthcare, rising policing costs, and much-needed recreation access. The relationships and momentum I’ve built will help us get them done.

The next four years need what a mayor brings: advocacy with other governments, communication with residents, and building the support to carry big projects through. I’ve been preparing for that, and not only at the council table. On my podcast and at conventions, I’ve had many conversations with mayors from around the province about what makes the job work, and what doesn’t.

My experience isn’t limited to the past four years, either. I’ve started and built successful companies and organizations, led teams, managed budgets and payroll, and taken ideas from a sketch to delivery. I know what it takes to get big things done, and I believe that’s what Parksville needs from its next mayor.

Learn more: Podcast: The Art of Mayoring with Nicole Minions

This council did a lot of the groundwork. We commissioned and received the water study, directed its findings into the Official Community Plan review, set money aside for higher policing costs, and took Parksville’s case to the province through the Union of BC Municipalities. The next council has to turn that groundwork into results, and that means heavy lifting of three kinds: coordinating with our regional partners on water and services, advocating to the province and Ottawa for funding we can’t raise alone, and engaging the whole community in a new Official Community Plan. Those are the three areas I’ve focused on for four years: working with our regional partners through both water boards and the regional district, taking Parksville’s priorities directly to provincial and federal decision-makers, and explaining council decisions in plain language on my website and podcast.

Learn more: Council minutes, March 16, 2026 (26-051, water study in OCP)·Council minutes, February 12, 2024 (24-054, policing reserve)·Podcast: Pulling Every Lever, on advocacy

New people with new energy are good for any council. But the mayor sets the tone for everyone, and the basics matter: reading a staff report, asking the right questions, running a meeting under the rules, knowing what council can and can’t decide. Having done that for four years means I can spend my first year on Parksville’s priorities instead of learning the job.

Think of it as a job interview, because it is one. You’re hiring someone for four years to make decisions on your behalf, so look at what you would for any important hire: education and qualifications, work and life experience, track record, and how they handle hard questions.

Then ask whether you can trust the person to act on your behalf, more than whether you like their promises. When we reward big promises, we encourage candidates to make promises they can’t keep. Look at how someone has made decisions, how they explain them, and whether they’re realistic about what the job can and can’t do. Ask every candidate the same questions, me included.

Here are my answers. Education: a law degree from UBC. Experience: twenty years building and running businesses, including the digital agency I still run, plus four years on council, on both of Parksville’s water boards, and at the regional district. Approach: I believe trust depends on clear communication and transparency about decisions and the reasons behind them. The bigger the decision, the more consultation it deserves, while there’s still room for that input to shape the outcome. That means talking directly with the people affected, listening to different perspectives, and not shying away from hard conversations. I’ve brought that approach to council, and I’d carry it into the mayor’s role. I’m applying for the job, and I’m glad to be interviewed for it.

Learn more: Podcast: So You’re Thinking of Voting in an Election·Book a time to meet with me

A mayor chairs council, helps set its priorities, speaks for the city, and is the first call for other governments and partners. Decisions still need council’s support and staff’s expertise. The mayor’s job is to build that support, keep important work moving, and give residents a clear account of progress.

Learn more: Province of BC: role of mayor and council

Parksville isn’t running out of drinking water. The City’s staff report says our existing supply meets essential drinking-water and fire-protection needs. The problem is dry summers: we’ve had Stage 4 restrictions in four of the last five years. With longer, drier summers and less snowpack to refill the reservoir, we need more resilience for the years ahead, while protecting the Englishman River.

Learn more: City staff report on the water study (June 2026)·Water Use Planning and Management Study, Phase 1

Our restrictions are triggered by flow in the Englishman River, which must be kept up for fish under provincial orders. In a dry summer, a large share of what Arrowsmith Dam releases goes to keep the river flowing, not to our taps. As summers get drier and start earlier, the reservoir runs short sooner. More storage helps the river and our community at the same time.

Learn more: Water study, Phase 1 (sections 2 and 6)

The plan is new storage. The City’s water study shortlisted four storage options, with early cost estimates between $14.2 million and $28.4 million. The next steps are to choose one, confirm the costs and approvals, and secure funding with our regional partners, First Nations, and the provincial and federal governments. No one can honestly promise there will never be restrictions in a severe drought, but new storage is how we get back to reliable summer supply, and it’s the top priority of my campaign.

Learn more: Water study, Phase 1 (Appendix H, cost estimates)

On October 5, council directed staff to seek proposals for Phase 2 of the water study. That work will investigate storage at Shelton Lake and Healy Lake, opportunities to increase Arrowsmith Dam’s capacity, and an updated water conservation plan.

That’s the next step toward choosing a viable project. We still need to confirm feasibility, costs, and approvals, and secure funding with our regional partners, First Nations, and the provincial and federal governments. My priority is to keep that work moving so we can improve summer reliability while protecting the Englishman River.

Learn more: Council meeting highlights, October 5, 2026

Parksville’s water system serves the Englishman River as well as our community, and protecting fish habitat is a shared responsibility. Senior governments have done this before on Vancouver Island: in 2024 the province committed $14 million to replace the Cowichan Lake weir, on top of $24 million in federal funding and $4 million in earlier provincial salmon-restoration funding. I’ve started those conversations, including with the provincial minister responsible for water at September’s Union of BC Municipalities convention.

Learn more: Province of BC: Cowichan Lake weir funding (2024)

With a provincial election under way, I’m asking every Ladysmith-Oceanside candidate to commit to supporting Parksville’s water infrastructure: building new storage, a fair provincial share of the cost of running the dam that keeps the river flowing, and more room for local water managers to respond to real conditions. You can add your name, and see what the candidates say.

Learn more: The Parksville water petition

Parksville grew 9.5 per cent between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, faster than BC or Canada, and the province has pushed every community to build more housing, including through new legislation. When I first ran in 2022, I said that once that pressure came, we’d need to go back to the province for the water, healthcare, and infrastructure that make housing work. In 2025 I brought a resolution asking the province to base housing targets on water, healthcare, infrastructure, and climate resilience, not population projections alone. Council supported it and the Union of BC Municipalities endorsed it.

Learn more: Statistics Canada: Parksville census profile·Council minutes, June 2, 2025·UBCM 2025 resolution dispositions (NR30)·Podcast: Make Housing More Affordable (By Taxing It?)·Podcast: The Price of a Door

I supported first reading and the decision to defer further readings until after the election. First reading isn’t approval; it’s a step toward deciding. Before a final decision I want to weigh the current proposal, the servicing and transportation information, the environmental considerations, and what the community tells us. Residents deserve a clear explanation of the choices council has and the consequences of each.

Learn more: Council minutes, September 9, 2026 (26-169, 26-170)·Podcast: Bring the Bill, on what first reading means

The current proposal is for up to 330 homes. That density is within the guideline in our existing Official Community Plan for a Planned Neighbourhood, which also supports clustering homes to preserve open space and environmentally sensitive areas.

The proponent expects to build in phases over about ten years. The revised proposal includes single-family homes, duplexes, and multiplexes or townhouses (often referred to as “missing middle” housing because it’s between a detached house and an apartment building) with the apartment component removed.

I haven’t made a final decision to support or oppose the proposal. I want to weigh the environmental, transportation, and servicing information, including added infrastructure demand and system capacity, alongside what residents tell us. The number matters, but so do what gets built, what gets protected, and the services needed to support it.

Learn more: Council agenda, July 6, 2026 (item 4e, staff report and attachments)

Our current plan dates from 2013, and Parksville has changed a lot since. Parksville already does the basics well, right down to the plantings and hanging baskets downtown. The new plan is our chance to protect and build on what makes this a great place to live: a vibrant downtown, local businesses and good jobs, a healthy tree canopy, parks and recreation for every age, and neighbourhoods that feel safe and welcoming. It also has to connect growth with water, healthcare, and costs, and settle the neighbourhood-scale questions once instead of fighting them project by project. Council has already directed that both phases of the water study inform the review. Residents should be involved while the choices are still open, and council should explain how that input shaped the plan.

Learn more: Council minutes, March 16, 2026 (26-051)

A complete community lets people of every age, stage, and walk of life thrive. We all want a clean, safe community, timely healthcare, recreation, social, and cultural opportunities, and a City Hall connected to the people it serves. Seniors on fixed incomes and young families building careers both need a financially prudent City. Seniors need accessible sidewalks, transit, and health services close to home, and they also need younger people to live here, work here, and provide those services. Our grandparents and grandkids are often the same families. As a parent of three and a councillor, I hear from both. The new community plan is where we bring it together: a range of housing, recreation for every age and ability, and a vibrant downtown.

Property taxes pay for services and infrastructure that improve our everyday lives. There are valid reasons to invest more in our community. But every increase needs a clear purpose, and we have to consider what residents can afford—especially people on fixed incomes and families already struggling with the cost of a home.

Your tax bill includes several governments’ levies. Parksville council sets the City’s portion. The province sets school tax. Regional services and hospital funding are decided through the RDN and the separate Nanaimo Regional Hospital District. Parksville has two directors on the 19-member regional board, so we can influence those decisions, but making progress means building support across the region.

Local governments also face increasing demands from federal and provincial priorities without always receiving the funding to match. I’ve gone to Ottawa as a Federation of Canadian Municipalities committee member to advocate for stronger, more predictable infrastructure support. Property taxpayers shouldn’t be left carrying an ever-growing share of those costs.

At the RDN, I’d work to bring tax increases more closely into line with inflation. For hospital taxes, I want to slow the pace of increases while doubling down on advocacy for the care our region needs. The province has begun taking steps toward a new patient tower and cardiac catheterization lab. We should build on that progress and press for firm funding commitments and timelines.

At City Hall, I’d scrutinize spending, set clear priorities, look for ways to share costs, and plan ahead for major needs. Before big commitments, residents should understand both the upfront price and the ongoing cost.

I also recognize that the province’s changes have made deferring new property taxes more expensive. That adds to the pressure on people who rely on the program to stay in their homes. I can’t promise no increases, but I can commit to weighing community benefits against affordability and pushing other levels of government to carry their share.

Learn more: Podcast: Decoding Your Property Tax Bill·Podcast: The Price of a Door: Market vs. Non-Market Housing·Advocating for Parksville at FCM Advocacy Days

Under the provincial policing agreements, a municipality under 15,000 people pays 70 per cent of its RCMP costs. Once it passes 15,000, it pays 90 per cent, all at once. Parksville is close to that line, and the 2026 census will tell us whether we’ve crossed it. Council has been setting money aside so the jump doesn’t land on taxpayers in a single year, and in 2023 Parksville asked the province, through the Union of BC Municipalities, for a more gradual scale. UBCM endorsed it.

Learn more: UBCM resolution NR34 (2023): graduated RCMP cost-sharing·Council minutes, February 12, 2024 (24-054, policing reserve)

In BC, regional hospital districts, funded by local property taxes, pay 40 per cent of the cost of new hospital facilities. A new patient tower and a cardiac catheterization lab at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital are now in concept planning, and our hospital district got that moving by offering to pay for the planning itself. It has committed an initial $50 million toward the projects. That’s worth it: nobody north of the Malahat should have to travel to Victoria in the middle of a heart attack. The Fair Care Alliance has done great work making that case, and fair access to care on our part of the Island will stay a priority for me.

Learn more: Regional District of Nanaimo: Nanaimo Regional Hospital District·NanaimoNewsNOW: cath lab planning commences (March 2026)·Fair Care Alliance: the issue·Podcast: How Citizens Can Get Big Things Done with Donna Hais

A mayor doesn’t set provincial timelines, but there are real levers, and I’ll use them. Our hospital district has already shown it can move the province by putting money on the table for planning. I’ll support keeping that pressure on, and push for a signed capital funding agreement with firm milestones as soon as concept planning is done. I’ll make it part of a united regional ask through the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities and UBCM, alongside groups like the Fair Care Alliance, and raise it directly with ministers. Regional taxpayers fund 40 per cent of these projects. We’ve earned a firm timeline.

Learn more: Nanaimo hospital expansion in the provincial budget consultation report (August 2026)

Healthcare is a provincial responsibility, but the City can be an active partner. That means working with Island Health, the Division of Family Practice, and local providers on recruitment and retention: suitable clinic space, help settling in the community, and a strong voice with the province, alongside groups like the Fair Care Alliance. Any incentive the City offers should have a clear purpose, cost, and way to measure results. New care is coming here too: CONNECT Parksville, a 26-bedroom residence for people recovering from brain injury and stroke, partly funded by Island Health and approved by this council, has just opened, serving the central and north Island.

Learn more: CONNECT Parksville·Fair Care Alliance·Video (2022): Parksville needs more doctors and healthcare workers

Parksville should offer recreation for every age, stage, ability, and walk of life, and right now our facilities aren’t keeping pace with our community’s needs. Ravensong Aquatic Centre, built in 1995, runs at capacity. Sports groups are short of fields, and some provincial tournaments have had to move to Nanaimo. When Craig Street Commons closed in January, Oceanside lost 43 per cent of its indoor recreation program space, and the Qualicum Commons lease only runs to June 2027.

Recreation here is a regional service, run by the Regional District of Nanaimo for Parksville, Qualicum Beach, and the surrounding electoral areas, so progress depends on working together. Voters turned down a $30 million Ravensong expansion in 2025, and a regional feasibility study for a Parksville aquatic centre was abandoned in 2024, so the next step has to be one the whole region can support.

I’ve seen what partnership can achieve through the Oceanside Community Track at École Ballenas Secondary. I started volunteering on the track committee in early 2021, before I was elected. My company, Motiontide, built and donated the project website and provided communications support to help build awareness and raise funds for the project. On council, I served as a liaison to the track renewal steering committee, and our council significantly increased Parksville’s funding commitment. Our regional partners stepped up too.

It took three local governments, the school district, a volunteer club and hundreds of people and organizations to replace a track that had served us since the late 1970s. The six-lane, all-weather track opened in September 2025 after more than twenty years of community advocacy. That’s a connected community—and it’s the approach I want to bring to the recreation facilities we still need.

I’ll back the regional district’s new recreation facility needs assessment and work with the school district, the regional district, and community groups towards more space for recreation, fitness, sports, cultural activities, and community gatherings. That means looking at both existing facilities and opportunities for new shared spaces, and pursuing senior-government funding, as the Ravensong renovation did with $7 million from the federal government.

Not every answer needs a new building. Options like disc golf and connected trails can serve a wide range of ages without requiring millions in new taxes. The new Official Community Plan should plan for parks, fields, and courts close to where people live. The goal is recreation that keeps pace with our community, with something for kids, families, seniors, and everyone in between.

Learn more: Oceanside Community Track: official opening· PQB News: RDN faces recreational facility space shortage·PQB News: growing population puts pressure on recreation facilities·PQB News: Ravensong renovations moving ahead·RDN: Oceanside Recreation Services Master Plan·PQB News: school district seeks approval to sell Craig Street Commons

The City should support nonprofits, through clear, fair programs. Without nonprofits, much of what makes Parksville such a great community wouldn’t be possible on our relatively small tax base. Support should (and does) come through grants-in-aid, permissive tax exemptions, and other grants. I support our new approach of asking all community groups to submit requests at a set time, so council can consider them together, in the context of the budget.

The City shouldn’t fund individual businesses, and the Community Charter generally doesn’t allow it. Where the City does offer incentives, they should be open to anyone and serve a public goal, like a more vibrant downtown. Beyond that, the City should, where possible, buy services from local businesses on fair, competitive terms, and support business by being easy to deal with: clear rules, timely approvals, and a downtown people want to visit. Of course businesses benefit from infrastructure the City provides (and they also support that infrastructure with their taxes). We all benefit from a collaborative relationship with the Chamber of Commerce and the Parksville Downtown Business Association.

I draw the line at people seeking a discretionary decision from the City. My campaign won’t accept a donation from someone with a direct financial stake in a development application, rezoning, variance, or similar proposal currently awaiting that decision, or from someone representing the applicant. I want residents to have confidence that campaign donations don’t influence City decisions.

You can read the contribution policy and donation requirements on my donation page.

There are lots of ways to help: put up a lawn sign, volunteer, make a donation, or introduce me to neighbours who have questions. You can also share this website and encourage people to vote. If you’d like to get involved, please contact me and we’ll find a way that fits your time and interests.

Parksville is where the Island’s main line meets the Port Alberni branch, and we have our own station. I want to preserve the corridor for the future and get value from it today: trails beside the rails, a Hi-Rail tourism run from Parksville to Coombs, and a new Official Community Plan that keeps future passenger service possible around our station. The corridor is owned by 14 First Nations and five regional districts, so no one community can deliver it alone. It will take First Nations, regional partners, and senior governments working together, one mile at a time. I’ve hosted the Island Corridor Foundation’s CEO twice on my podcast, the second time on a Hi-Rail ride from Parksville to Coombs.

Learn more: Podcast: What’s next for Vancouver Island’s rail corridor?·Restore Island Rail Society: Election 2026 questionnaire

Pulling up the tracks would be expensive and hard to reverse: remediation could cost hundreds of millions, and once the rails are gone, restoring them is far harder. The corridor doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Commuter service where demand is highest, tourism service, trails, and freight where it makes sense can each build momentum and prove demand. Any decision about the corridor’s future should be made with full information on those costs, and with First Nations and regional partners at the table. My default is to preserve the corridor and our options.

DayHomes Society proposed a small, seasonal winter shelter on Pioneer Crescent. On September 9 council gave direction on the site, which was a step toward a decision, not an approval. After its community engagement, DayHomes withdrew its temporary use permit application, saying the timelines for approvals and BC Housing funding wouldn’t line up for this winter.

Our region still needs a long-term answer. My approach on proposals like this is to listen to everyone, take neighbours’ safety concerns seriously, and look for ways to make it work, as we did when Island Health proposed the treatment centre on McCarter Street. Social services are a provincial responsibility, but the City still has a real role as a partner.

Learn more: Black Press: timelines won’t allow Parksville shelter this winter·PQB News: council considers modular winter shelter·Podcast: Scared to Live, Not Scared to Die, with Shayla Day

There’s an emergency response for the most dangerous weather, and it’s now coordinated across our region. When Environment Canada’s forecast crosses set thresholds (in winter, –4°C or colder, or below zero with a weather warning), the Regional District of Nanaimo activates a warming centre in Oceanside with provincial emergency management funding and operational support from the City of Parksville, and RDN Transit runs a shuttle from Parksville City Hall. The same provincial framework supports cooling centres in extreme heat, and BC Housing’s Extreme Weather Response program can add temporary shelter spaces.

That regional coordination is a real improvement over even a few years ago, and it means people have somewhere to go when it matters most.

Learn more: Regional District of Nanaimo: emergency shelters and extreme weather centres·NanaimoNewsNOW: Oceanside overnight warming centre opens (February 2026)·BC Housing: Extreme Weather Response program

For four years I’ve felt a bit like one of the Hardy Boys, on the case of the missing water. I sit on both of Parksville’s water boards. I’ve toured the Arrowsmith reservoir and our treatment plant, and I’ve been part of the water study this council commissioned.

Here’s what we found. We’re not short of drinking water. We’re short of storage. Summers are longer and drier, the snowpack isn’t what it was, and the reservoir has to keep the Englishman River flowing for fish before it tops up our supply. That’s why we’ve been in Stage 4 in four of the last five summers.

Growth matters, but the answer isn’t to stop growing. It’s to grow in step with our water: use the new community plan to tie where and how we grow to what our system can supply, keep conserving, and build new storage.

The next council has to hit the ground running on Phase 2: choose the site, cost it, fund it. That takes our whole region speaking with one voice, and it takes the province and Ottawa, for building it and for their share of running a system that serves the river. I’ve already started. I met the minister responsible for water at UBCM in September, and I’ve launched a water petition asking every MLA candidate to commit to supporting it. It’s time to go from water mystery to water champion.

Learn more: The Parksville water petition·Water study, Phase 1

Four years from now, I’d like three things to be true.

First, we know where our next water is coming from. The site is chosen, funding partners are at the table, and summer restrictions are on their way to being the exception again.

Second, we have a new Official Community Plan that people feel ownership of. Parksville already does the basics well, right down to the hanging baskets downtown. The new plan should protect and build on what makes this a great place to live: a vibrant downtown, local businesses and good jobs, a healthy tree canopy, parks and recreation for every age, and safe, welcoming neighbourhoods. I want it to be a real community effort that gets people excited about where we’re going together, and I want us implementing it before the term is out.

Third, City Hall feels closer. A City website that works, Coffee with the Mayor every month, and hearing about big decisions before they’re made, not after.

Underneath all of it is good governance. None of us knows what’s coming around the corner, so what matters most is a council that works as a team, hears every perspective, and makes decisions people can live with even when they disagree. Parksville depends on nonprofits, clubs, businesses, First Nations, and other governments. Part of the mayor’s job is helping everyone play well in the sandbox, so we all succeed.

We’ve grown a lot in the ten years since my family moved here. By the end of this term, I want the water, the services, and the plan to have caught up, and everything that makes Parksville a great place to live still here and better.

Let’s start with who does what. The City doesn’t build housing. Builders, nonprofits, and the province do. What the City controls is where housing can go, what form it takes, and how clearly and quickly we decide. Those are the levers I’d use.

One: a new community plan that says clearly where different kinds of housing belong, so builders and neighbours know the rules before the first application, instead of fighting it out project by project.

Two: focus on the housing we’re short of. Rentals our workforce can afford, so people who work here have a realistic chance to live here, with shorter commutes and more time for family and community. Homes seniors can downsize into without leaving Parksville. And the missing middle, between a detached house and an apartment block.

Three: back our nonprofit partners and hold the province to its end of the deal. Two nonprofit projects here, including the Lions’ shovel-ready apartment building, went on hold when this year’s provincial budget cut BC Housing’s Community Housing Fund. That’s where a mayor’s advocacy pays off.

Four: housing has to come with what makes it work. In 2025 I brought a resolution asking the province to tie housing targets to water, healthcare, and infrastructure. Council supported it and the Union of BC Municipalities endorsed it.

Some people feel we’ve grown too fast. Others can’t find a place to live. Both are right. The answer is the right housing, in the right places, with the services to support it.

Learn more: 2026 BC Budget puts Parksville non-market housing on hold·PQB News: Lions project postponed·Podcast: The Price of a Door

You should be able to find an answer, understand a proposal, and know when your input can still make a difference. I’ll work with council and staff to replace the City’s website with one built around what residents actually need to do, start monthly Coffee with the Mayor gatherings in different neighbourhoods, and give neighbours earlier notice and a real conversation about development proposals. The bigger the decision, the more engagement it deserves.

Learn more: Podcast: Public Engagement Isn’t Broken, It’s Misunderstood

Advance voting is October 7 and 14 at the Jensen Centre. General voting day is Saturday, October 17, at the Jensen Centre and Parksville Fellowship Baptist Church. All voting runs 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mail ballots are also available. The provincial election is separate, on October 24.

Learn more: How to vote: eligibility, ID, and vote by mail·City of Parksville: Election 2026

I’ll do my best to keep this page updated—there are always more topics to address. If your burning question isn’t here, please contact me. I’m happy to talk. If I need to look into something before answering, I’ll say so and follow up. You can also explore other content on this website or listen to my podcast for more of my thoughts on local issues.