We Have More in Common Than We Think

I’m running for Mayor because we have more in common than we think. We share core values, common concerns and many of the same practical solutions.

I believe that is true of Victorians and of Canadians more broadly. Our politics can sometimes make our differences appear much larger than they are. But when we get beyond the labels and actually listen to one another, we often discover that we want many of the same things for our families, our neighbourhoods and our community.

We want to feel safe. We want people to have homes. We want our kids and grandkids to be able to afford to live here. We want a strong local economy and thriving small businesses. We want to be able to get around our city. We want to be prepared for a changing climate. We want our tax dollars used responsibly. And we want a City Hall that listens to us and is open about the decisions it makes.

We may disagree about how to get there, but we often share the values and concerns that bring us to the conversation in the first place.

I trust my neighbours.

Start With What We Share

That belief is at the heart of why I am running as an independent. Whether you are Green, New Democrat, Liberal, Conservative or independent, we don’t have to vote the same way to care about the same city. We don’t have to agree about Ottawa or the Legislature to work together here in Victoria.

Victoria needs a Mayor who is ready to work with all Victorians and every councillor this city elects. I want to listen across our differences, raise the voices of all Victorians and build from our common ground toward shared solutions and better outcomes.

Instead of beginning with the question, “What divides us?” I want us to ask: What do we share? What isn’t working? What values sit underneath our concerns? Where do we already agree? And what practical solutions can we build together?

We have more in common than we think.

Safety and Compassion Are Not Opposites

Consider the conversation about public safety, disorder and homelessness. Too often we are presented with a false choice between compassion for people living unsheltered and safe streets and public spaces.

I reject that choice.

We can restore safety and order without criminalizing people simply because they are living unsheltered. We can insist that harmful behaviour is addressed while recognizing the dignity of every person. We can support people who need housing, mental-health care, treatment and other services while also listening to residents, workers and businesses who are experiencing the consequences of disorder.

Those positions are not contradictions. They grow from values many of us already share: safety, compassion, dignity, fairness and responsibility.

That is what I mean when I say we have more in common than we think.

What Being Independent Means to Me

Being independent doesn’t mean having no values. It means recognizing that no political tradition has a monopoly on good ideas.

It means listening seriously to someone you disagree with. It means being able to agree with someone about housing while disagreeing with that same person about transportation. It means judging ideas on their merits rather than by the political label attached to them.

Good ideas don’t need a party label.

I’m not asking anyone to abandon their politics. Bring your perspective. Bring your experience. Bring your ideas. Then sit down with neighbours who may see things differently and find the common ground from which we can actually get something done.

A Mayor should be able to work constructively with everyone Victorians elect to Council.

Listen to the People Who Live It and Do the Work

Finding common ground starts with listening.

A Citizens First City Hall means listening to people with direct and lived experience before decisions are made. That includes City Hall workers and other frontline workers who know how our public services actually function, business owners who experience the realities of our local economy, and people living unsheltered who understand our homelessness system in ways most of us never will.

It also means listening to neighbourhood residents, seniors, young people, people with disabilities, Indigenous partners, advocates, community organizations and the many other people whose lives are affected by decisions made at City Hall.

Expertise does not exist only inside government. Victoria is filled with knowledge, experience, creativity and practical ideas.

I want to raise the voices of all Victorians, particularly in the decisions that directly affect their lives and neighbourhoods.

A Citizens First City Hall

This is what participatory democracy means to me. Bring citizens into decisions earlier. Listen across differences. Identify the shared concern. Find the shared values underneath it. Understand the choices and trade-offs. Hear from the people directly affected. Then work together toward practical solutions and report back honestly about the results.

That doesn’t mean everyone will agree. We won’t.

But democracy isn’t about eliminating disagreement. It is about giving people who disagree a meaningful way to continue living, working and solving problems together.

Our differences are real. So is everything we share.

Changing City Hall isn’t only about changing policies. It is also about changing how we govern: listening earlier, working across differences, being honest about choices and trade-offs, raising the voices of citizens and building solutions from the common ground that already exists in our community.

I believe Victorians and Canadians share far more core values than our current political streams sometimes lead us to believe.

That is why I am running for Mayor.

Because we have more in common than we think. We share core values, common concerns and many of the same practical solutions.

I trust my neighbours.

We can do better, together.