What skills, professional experience, and personal attributes make you an effective representative for your riding in the Legislature?
For the past four years, I’ve been the MLA for Parksville-Qualicum, and I’m ready to hit the ground running. Before this, I served on Town Council, and ran a small tech business for nearly 20 years where I learned the importance of customer service and how to find innovative solutions to tough problems.

Those skills have been incredibly useful in serving our community. I also run a small farm, and that’s taught me the importance of planning ahead and relying on community, something that’s key in representing a region like ours.

I’ve lived here my whole life and I have deep roots and strong connections. Over the last four years, my office has booked nearly 3,000 meetings with local constituents, giving me a clear understanding of what matters most to people here.

As an independent MLA, I’ve been able to use the extra resources that come with not being tied to a party to get meaningful things done, like developing a plan for a new health centre for Oceanside.

My experience as an entrepreneur and the relationships I’ve built in our community have helped me tackle challenges head-on and work on solutions that make a difference for all of us.

---

Cost of living challenges continue to mount, with everyday items and activities becoming increasingly unaffordable. What specific examples of this have you seen in the riding, and what areas would you advocate for to bring relief to residents?
Some of the hardest meetings I’ve had over the past four years have been with seniors who rented here for decades, only to receive eviction notices, forcing them to live in their car or leave the community.

No senior, or anyone who has worked hard, should have to go through that. Right now, Oceanside has over 250 people waiting for affordable housing, mostly seniors. In Ladysmith, investments that should’ve been made locally have for too long gone to Nanaimo.

As an independent MLA, I’ve worked directly with non-profit housing providers and service groups to secure funding and address these issues. We need more affordable rental housing for seniors and hardworking families struggling with rising costs.

Expanding the SAFER program would help seniors stay in their homes as rents rise. We also need more funding for the nutrition coupon program at farmers’ markets, so lower-income families and pregnant women can access fresh, local food.

And our small businesses need safe, thriving downtowns to succeed and provide good-paying jobs for people here.

With full-time offices in both Qualicum Beach and Ladysmith, I can ensure we tackle these challenges head-on, making sure our community gets the support it needs.

---

The need for additional housing stock in the region is widely recognized, with various approaches proposed or underway to build more homes, faster, which in turn should reduce costs for renters and home buyers. What specific housing needs have you identified in the riding, and how would you address those needs as the riding’s MLA?
Recent changes to housing rules were intended to improve affordability, but instead, we’ve seen rising land values and higher building costs due to increased regulations. Our communities are highly desirable places to live, and as more people move here, rapid growth is driving up prices and changing the character of our towns.

We need smart development that respects our community values while providing enough housing for everyone.

Our downtowns are incredible, Ladysmith’s historic First Avenue, Parksville’s diverse small businesses, and the charm of Qualicum Beach. We need to build on these strengths.

In Ladysmith, empty historical buildings could have their facades preserved while allowing for housing and other uses. Parksville and Qualicum Beach have downtown properties ideal for mixed-use development, with commercial on the ground floor and market rentals or condos above, creating vibrant, walkable communities.

We’re also dealing with a growing homelessness crisis, especially in places like Transfer Beach and Memorial Plaza.

To solve this, we must collaborate with local governments and non-profits to create a long-term solution. By selecting the right location and providing on-site work opportunities, we can give people a stable place to live, rebuild their confidence, and transition back into stable housing and community life.

---

Local advocacy groups are calling for immediate investment in primary healthcare services across the central and northern Island regions, including additional capital investments for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. What steps will you take to improve access to healthcare in the riding, particularly with regard to primary care physicians and access to specialists?
When I was in the party, I remember sitting down with the health minister and Nanaimo MLAs, pushing for real progress on the patient tower and heart facilities at Nanaimo Hospital.

We were told repeatedly that the government had spent enough north of the Malahat and it wasn’t going to happen. As an independent MLA, I teamed up with the Fair Care Alliance, health professionals, and patients to publicly put pressure on the government, and it worked.

With strong community support, both party leaders have committed to a new patient tower at Nanaimo Hospital.

Other healthcare issues remain pressing. In Oceanside, 12,000 people are waiting for a family doctor, with thousands more waiting in Ladysmith. Without access to primary care, preventable issues end up as emergencies.

When I became an independent MLA, my office budget doubled, my team grew from two to six staff, and we used those resources to develop a plan for a new health centre in Parksville and collaborate on another for Qualicum Beach.

We need to bring this same approach to Ladysmith. I’m the only candidate committed to opening full-time offices in both communities and to publicly commit to bringing new community-led clinics to our region.

Editor’s note: Candidate responses were limited to 200 words. Any responses exceeding this limit are trimmed as noted. Answers are published otherwise unedited by NanaimoNewsNOW, with the exception of paragraph spacing to aid readability.