John's Platform
Carbon based zoning
Victoria is already a leader among sustainable communities. We have the highest share for cycling and walking for transportation of any major city in North America. Developments like Dockside Green are a showcase for developments around the world where people are looking for solutions to reduce our carbon footprint. We need to maintain our momentum and look for new opportunities and innovations to make Victoria a carbon neutral city.
Housing
The most pressing issue in Victoria today is the lack of housing diversity and solutions for homelessness. Development needs to be more than high end condos for wealth investors. The lack of rental housing and affordable options is pushing the people who keep our city working out of Victoria. We must use the tools at our disposal to ensure new development provides for affordable housing, for different options like co-op housing, and to provide more solutions for the hard to house.
Transportation in Victoria and the Capital Region
We have developed a Regional Growth Strategy that includes a new vision for transportation in the Capital Region. It will be important to Victoria to lead on realizing the objectives of shifting our transportation choices to sustainable modes like walking, cycling and transit. Giving people better choices can help us shift land use patterns to more productive and people oriented development. I support:
Sewage treatment
Victoria and the Capital Region are faced with a major infrastructure project – we need to treat our sewage and stop using the Strait of Juan de Fuca as our toilet.
The province has already directed the CRD to make treatment a priority and is asking for plans. Consultant reports tell us that we can develop small, decentralized treatment plants and recover
resources and energy from waste.