Welcome

Greetings,

Thank you for taking the time to come to my Courtenay Council election blogspot.

Having served on Comox town Council and the Comox Valley Credit Union Board, volunteered for 15 years with Mt. Washington’s Adaptive Snowsports, served on the World Community Board, volunteered with a host of community organizations and officiated weddings all over the valley, running for a seat on Council feels a little like walking into Cheers—where everybody knows your name.

I believe, like many, that valley-wide governance has many advantages. However, it seems obvious to me that we have valley-wide governance in place-it’s called Comox Valley Regional District.

One amalgamation proponent recently told me that the regional district allows too much autonomy for outlying communities—it lets the Comox Mayor tell US where to put a homeless shelter and it lets the people of Union Bay decide what kind of subdivisions should be in THEIR community etc. Following that conversation, I was convinced WE NEED a voice on council that wants to build on the cooperative relations and the good will that we are already generating in our local governance body rather than shaking a stick at our neighbours. To me it just makes sense that the path to more cooperative relations is in demonstrating how our good will and cooperation is working for us now and building on that as friends and neighbours.

I firmly believe that we owe ourselves and our children’s children a vibrant healthy Comox Valley. How respectfully we live and what we leave to future generations is the most significant measure of who we are and what we have given back to life that has so generously bestowed so many blessings on us.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I heard all the huffing about the journalist who happened to reflect honestly—imagine?—on the kind of valley we are becoming by these piece meal decisions that don’t ask what the valley will look like in 5, 10 or 15 years and whether an oily sheen covering our estuary is good for anyone. The canary in our Comox Valley coal mine isn’t looking well. I believe it is time for civic leaders who value our beautiful natural environment and who will work for healthy, sustainable solutions to the problems that confront us.

I strongly believe in working with citizens, One of my first priorities will be a Comox Valley Citizens Task Force on Transportation for the Twenty-first Century. It makes no sense to see vehicles idling in traffic jambs while our Vancouver-sized busses circulate with 2—3 passengers on schedules that don’t reflect how people live in the Comox Valley. The slightest internet search reveals that there are bountiful ways that communities have raised bus ridership, reduced traffic congestion and SAVED money in doing so.

I was proud to be part of the Stop the HST effort that I believe telegraphs to municipal politicians that they—too—must end this shifting more and more taxes onto the shoulders of those who can least afford it. That is a commitment I will empathically make.

FMI: 338-0155 any day but Tuesday or Sunday or write ngreynoldsng@gmail.com, see my Facebook page.

Happy Trails!
Norm