Sara Duncan
Facebook: facebook.com/duncantownsidney
Are you associated with or running as part of a slate? If so, which one?
No
Do you live in the municipality where you are running, and if so, for how long? If not, what is your connection to that community?
Yes. I have lived here for 12 years.
What is your occupation, and for how long?
I work part-time as a nebulizer technician at Burgener Research in Sidney. I have worked there only since April; when my youngest child was too young for school, I ran a bicycle rental company (Here by Cycle) out of my home for three years, but closed it during the pandemic. Prior to having my second child, I worked at Stantec as a soil and reclamation scientist.
Tell us about your previous elected and/or community experience.
Councillor in Sidney (2018- present).
Sidney Community Association (est. 2016) chairing the Environment and Climate Committee and Board member in 2017 (stepping down once elected).
Founding member of Sidney’s Cycling Without Age Society
Sidney Co-operative Preschool which both my children attended, from 2016 to 2020 (as President for the last two years)
Beaver Scout Leader from 2019-2022, and continue to remain involved with Scouting (and now hopefully Guiding) to the extent I can.
I taught gardening with North Saanich Middle school classes in the Growing Young Farmers program at Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture last spring.
Why are you running? What’s your motivation?
I am interested in continuing as a Councillor to help the Town implement what we heard from the community during the extensive public engagement for the Official Community Plan, Beacon Wharf and the Climate Action Plan. Our Town is undergoing a transition with a new generation of business owners and residents moving in, and I would like to help Sidney hold onto the things that bring people here, while meeting the needs of the future. I care about building a community that will let citizens of all ages and walks of life thrive in our rapidly changing world.
What are your top three issues?
• Are we fostering housing, transportation options and services to allow people of all ages, life stages, abilities and incomes to meet their needs here?
• Are we creating sustainable economic opportunities and services for the town over the long term?
• Is our infrastructure resilient to the large environmental, technological and demographic changes expected over the next few decades?
What’s your vision for your community in 25 years?
Honestly? Not much different than it is today, except a reduced average age of resident because our working population could now afford to live in town and walk or bike to work, and that would give them more leisure time again with less commuting. We already have such an involved and entrepreneurial volunteer and business community, with over 60% of our businesses owner-operated and unique. Once the covid pandemic restrictions lifted we had more free public events than ever, and all were higher attended. Our residents already lead the way in making their vision of their best community a reality.
What’s one “big idea” you have for your community?
We have to revisit the Beacon Wharf decision again in the coming term. It is a very emotional issue for our community, as it highlights that our most precious property is jeopardized by sea level rise and increased winter storms. However, I think we have an opportunity to envision a Town square that we have had identified as a need in our Downtown Waterfront Vision for many years. I’d like to get the residents to think of that space as a fully public space again, and how we can achieve that aim by working with nature, soften the divisions to the beaches and restore them so we can keep that area in use longer, instead of costly highly engineered facilities.
