Regional Competitiveness: If elected, how would you work with neighbouring municipalities and regional partners to improve transportation and the movement of people, goods, and services throughout Greater Victoria?

Question from the Victoria Chamber of Commerce.

Transportation does not stop at a municipal boundary, yet too often our planning does. I would use Esquimalt’s voice at the CRD and with BC Transit to push for shared regional priorities, timelines and measures of success instead of each municipality planning in isolation.

For Esquimalt, that means working directly with Victoria, View Royal, DND, Seaspan and other major employers on congestion around shift changes, transit service, construction scheduling and safe connections through the municipality. I would advocate for transit routes and exchanges that connect properly, active transportation networks that do not disappear at municipal borders, and reliable, identifiable commercial routes and loading access for businesses, trades and deliveries.

Land-use decisions must support the transportation system we want. The upcoming Official Community Plan should protect future transit corridors, identify where development can provide needed road or pathway connections, and preserve the Island Rail Corridor as part of long-term regional planning.

I would also push for coordinated grant applications and public reporting on whether projects are actually improving travel times, safety and reliability. Regional cooperation should produce more than meetings; it should result in a regional transportation network that works as one system.