William Scott
Website: votewilliamscott.ca
Are you associated with or running as part of a slate? If so, which one?
No, I am running as an independent candidate for Victoria City Council. I do not believe in glossy, plastic, or metal signage, plastered across public land, only to gain name and slogan recognition from passing traffic. This is an insult to the intelligence of the voter, demeaning and cheapening democracy in a wasteful, high-budget, competitive saturation of our public space. Anyone that participates in this is not taking an environmental stand, and I do not trust their version of sustainability.
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 rented in Victoria for 4 years and since then have resided here as a SFH owner for 32 years.
What is your occupation, and for how long?
I was a teacher for 33 years. I am now retired and ready to dedicate my passion, energy and skills to our city.
Tell us about your previous elected and/or community experience.
I’ve been on school district and provincial curriculum design teams, including creating a WHMIS plan for SD63 and being a District-Level Helping Teacher for SD61. (25)
My teaching has always involved students in relevant local issues, for example
• community household toxic waste disposal surveys, marine mammal autopsies and local beach studies
• development of a K-12 Environmental Teaching Kit for the Capital Regional District and Pacific Coast Savings (water, waste, and sewage systems tied to local and global issues)
• design of a Local Curricular Framework, emphasizing a bioregional and community-based First Nations view with specific application to the Georgia Strait marine ecosystem
Why are you running? What’s your motivation?
I’m angry about the simplistic, divisive approach, and undemocratic direction a number of present councillors have taken with regard to rubber stamping ongoing, unfettered development in the guise of sustainability and solving our housing crisis.
Steel and concrete towers for wealthy investors or retirees from elsewhere contribute massively to our carbon footprint. We cannot talk about sustainability without considering our carrying capacity and serving the needs of locals first.
The City’s plans have serious consequences for Victoria’s neighbourhoods, crime and safety, community services/ infrastructure, urban trees and ecosystems. Better solutions to the complex problems we face are possible.
What are your top three issues?
The three pillars of my platform (votewilliamscott.ca) work together to present my vision of how the lives of our residents could be improved, starting with democratic participation of neighbourhoods in the City’s development planning.
Over-densification for luxury homes is dangerous. Such gentrification results in the loss of affordable rentals, neighbourhood uniqueness, and green space. It also places immediate stress upon city services and health care, exacerbating our crime and mental health problems.
Livability in a climate crisis is dependent upon protecting and enhancing our ecosystems, including the vital tree canopy. Housing for low-moderate income renters must be the priority.
What’s your vision for your community in 25 years?
My three pillars will be in place. The occupation of parks by homeless campers will be over, as will the associated problems of crime and safety.
Despite inevitable lag time to involve other levels of government, we have a full-spectrum-of-care response to health, addiction, and housing.
Low-moderate income rental housing will be established in the city and throughout the CRD with connectivity through the AAA network and transit.
SFH zoning has changed to allow multi-plexes and town houses in rental tenure zones near schools and hospitals. We have a CRD forensic treatment centre and specialized clinics for short-term and long-term treatment for mental health and addiction.
Sustainable, GHG net-zero solutions are established for the region’s built and natural systems.
Victoria is flourishing, its beauty intact.
What’s one “big idea” you have for your community?
The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson (13)
There isn’t one big vision that I would feel comfortable imposing on Victoria. Anything offered in Council would be subjected to intense research and filtered by informed citizens and experts.
I believe in the collective knowledge, imagination, expertise and passion for change, residing in our residents hearts and minds. To that end, smaller, single-issue-based citizen online town hall meetings pertinent to Council, and larger themed biannual conferences on the more weighty, complex issues facing local residents and the region would be worth establishing
The Songhees and Esquimalt peoples conceive of home as “the relationships which connect a person to all that surrounds them. Ecological restoration is a form of respect and reconciliation.
