Fair Governance & Public Accountability
Public money, public land and public power should create lasting public value.
Residents should be able to see where public money went and whether it produced lasting public value.
Public office is a public trust, and every dollar spent should be able to answer for itself.
Public Money Is a Public Trust
Public money, public land and the authority entrusted to the Mayor and Council should be used to create lasting public value.
Major spending, projects and policy commitments should come with straightforward public accounting:
- What did we promise?
- What did we spend?
- What changed?
- Who benefited?
- What did the public receive in return?
- Did the result justify the cost?
The Cost of Local Government Is Part of Affordability
Affordability also includes the cost of local government. As Mayor, I will protect essential services while looking hard at new recurring costs and finding ways to make existing services work better before simply spending more.
The Mayor has a particular responsibility to welcome scrutiny and explain how public money is spent.
One Example: The Spark and Shift Forum
When CHEK News asked Mayor Marianne Alto about the nearly $50,000 one-day public-safety forum, her first response was: “Really? That’s a story?”
The original three-day paid event had sold only 22 tickets before the City converted it to a free one-day forum funded by taxpayers. CHEK reported costs of $23,000 for an event planner, more than $8,000 for the conference centre and $900 for a 45-minute cellist performance. CHEK reported that no new information was presented.
Alto defended the forum as an opportunity to update people who had helped create the plan, and said the cellist provided a pleasant atmosphere. However, those explanations did not answer the central accountability questions: Was the event necessary? Were the costs reasonable? What did taxpayers receive in return?
The Greater Victoria Chamber described the event as a full-day conference to reiterate the City’s existing Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan. Council had already adopted that plan in July 2025.
Source: Victoria mayor hosts $50K taxpayer-funded, closed-door forum: FOI documents
Track Major Projects Like the Crystal Pool
As Mayor, I will push for clear, regular public reporting on major projects such as the new Crystal Pool: costs, schedule, risks, service impacts during the transition, and whether the promised benefits are actually being delivered.
We can be ambitious for Victoria while being careful, transparent and accountable with public money.