Achievements as Regional Director

• 9 years of  balanced budgets as Cortes Island’s Regional Director

• Elected to second term as regional director with 70%  voter turn out and 80% of the vote

• Helped negotiate the creation, design, fund and maintain the trail system of K'was (Hague Lake) Regional District Park with over 10 miles of hiking trails through the Parks taxation function

• Implemented Carrington Lagoon Regional District kayaking campsite/park.

• Helped create new zoning bylaw allowing secondary cottages to support small businesses, such as Bed & Breakfasts Supported and improved Cortes Island’s ground breaking recycling depot and 'free store' 

• Built a high class popular skateboard park on Cortes Island

Tourism/Community

• Pioneer of west coast whale watching industry and eco-tourism adventures

• Board member of the Oaklands Community Centre www.oaklandscommunitycentre.com/ and the Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team - GOERT www.goert.ca/

• Six years as volunteer Paramedic for the BC Ambulance Service (Cortes Island)
  

• Created the successful Naturalist's program and 'Harlequin' rowboat adventures at Hollyhock www.hollyhock.ca/cms/ 

• One of original employees of Swan Lake Nature sanctuary www.swanlake.bc.ca/

• CBC Radio host  & free-lance reporter

• Host of radio show Nature Boy on CFUV cfuv.uvic.ca/

• Worked as a naturalist throughout BC, Alaska, Baja California, Central America and the Canadian arctic

• Integrity- to be honest, truthful, caring, and compassionate.
• To consider the needs of birds, butterflies, bees and pets as well as people in every decision.
• Clear communication- to be inclusive and engage with you.
• To spend time to research the issues and then to take a stand on issues.
• To talk to people who have lived in the community for a long time and listen to their perspectives.
• Recognize and collaborate on decisions with people who may have different values.
• To be innovative, creative and provide opportunities for us to celebrate our successes.

• Naturalist guide

• Bus driver for tours & schools

• CBC Radio host

• Former Victoria taxi driver

George's thoughts on tourism:

• Strengthen the downtown as a vibrant heart for the whole region with new artistic, musical and cultural attractions

• Minimize taxes and fees on small businesses and private schools

• Retain & expand provincial government and other offices downtown to support restaurants and shops

• Help strengthen the hospital and other in-town health services

• Cooperate with neighbouring communities to expand jobs in high technology, education, health care, arts and culture

• Enhance harbour transportation and recreation

• Continue to improve bus and other transit services to make it affordable and easy for people to come into town

• Click for the Official Community Plan Framework

FISCAL PRUDENCE

• Keep costs down on Blue Bridge refurbishment

• Seek major cost savings for proposed sewage system and support the Association for Responsible and Environmentally Sustainable Sewage Treatment ( ARESST) principles.
  

SMALL BUSINESS & TOURISM

• Encourage local enterprise, small business and tourism
• Prioritise heritage conservation.
• Require Development Permits to consider improving native wildlife habitat and nesting areas
• With local consultation, dedicate Government Street south of Superior Street in honour of Emily Carr.
• Adopt “Not everyone is a driver but everyone is a pedestrian policy”.
• Improve our Garry Oak Plantings
• Increase contribution to tourism marketing with a year-round focus
• Support for UVIC and University Canada West’s downtown campuses
• Bring the art gallery down town
• Promote locally crafted wares and foods with our tourist industry.
• Encourage participation by First Nations to expand their involvement with tourist-oriented projects. 

FAMILY

• Create two, five, ten & twenty year goals & plans for bicycle and pedestrian connectivity.
• Improve the ecological quality and integrity of our parks such as eradicating invasive plants from wild areas of Beacon Hill Park
• Build a new skateboard park in the City for the youth with low operational costs.
• Initiate a safety program to reinforce and rebuild residential chimneys
• Improve sidewalk and crosswalk safety such as “Look left/right” signs imbedded in curbs on one-way streets.
• Bring back the peace and quiet of Sunday mornings with bylaws that restrict outdoor construction and machinery noise before noon. Let's bring back the sound of children, birds, and people snoring to Sunday mornings!
• Support a culturally rich city with music, dance, art, theatre, festivals, and life long learning.
• Support activities that are fun, educational and inclusive of the whole community and promote harmony with First Nations

HOUSING

• Financially support housing for homeless and other low income and disadvantaged people
• Use zoning tools to provide a diversity of housing types
• Encourage housing that supports a culturally and demographically diverse population.
• Preserve the special identities of neighbourhoods.
• Encourage energy conservation and the use of solar, wind, geothermal and green energy.
• Make Victoria a place where young people and extended families can afford to stay.
• Encourage and diversify secondary suites. encourage rental apartments, co-ops
• Adopt the numerous recommendations that have been made by homelessness studies and begin implementing them in earnest.

TRANSPORTATION

• A society more dependant on paths, bike routes and public transport than cars.
• Better service for visitors who arrive by boat and for people who live on boats.
• Have more bike racks and scooter parking available downtown.
• Increase service by using smaller buses that travel more frequently.
• Encourage car sharing and pooling
• Support Coho and Seattle catamaran ferries

Let’s Build on our Strengths

Victoria’s economy includes many services to non-residents, especially tourists. We are also strong in health services, export manufacturing, conferences, consulting, education and First Nations’ art and culture.

• I will listen to and support the owners, managers and employees of these businesses
• Support those business, education, technology, arts, culture, First Nations, and other organizations that help reinforce a vital Downtown
• Support our Royal BC Museum and our Convention centre as world class downtown destinations
• Support our folk fests, jazz, the Fringe and film fest
• Support sidewalk cafes, living downtown, festivals, sporting events, the opera, musical, and other cultural attractions
• Remove obstacles to home based businesses as appropriate
• Support economic development opportunities for the harbour including tourism, the Coho, fishing, and the marine industry
• Enhance and improve our image as the City of Gardens
• Improve City government’s quality of service

Growth in health, education and technology employment is feasible due to Victoria’s excellent climate, cultural, recreational and fitness opportunities, and generally high quality of life. I propose that we encourage

• More Canadians to retire here,
• Medical and pharmaceutical research,
• Innovation and enterprise, and
• Strong downtown branches of our universities, colleges and library.

My Proposals to Overcome our Challenges

The stronger Canadian dollar, the recent increase in sales taxes, increased border security, and higher fuel costs all challenge the tourism related businesses.

• Fiscal prudence- let’s not spend money we don’t have, let’s keep local government taxes and fees to a minimum

Growth in provincial government and other public sector jobs is expected to be slow because the public can not afford it. 

• Keep Victoria as attractive as possible to Provincial government offices
• Financially attract major regional professional associations to the downtown
• Influence regional district, provincial and federal policies that encourage or assist economic development

We have a relatively low household income in comparison with other municipalities and we have relatively high housing costs so many of us struggle to meet our daily needs. 

• Protect our stock of rental housing
• Encourage secondary suites
• Increase subsidized housing
• Keep transportation including transit affordable
• Develop a disability and job-share policy
• Help integrate immigrants