Colin Plant
Website: www.colinplant.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/colinplant2022
Twitter: @colinplant2022
Instagram: @colinplant2022
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, for 33 years.
What is your occupation, and for how long?
High school teacher in Saanich for 22 years.
Tell us about your previous elected and/or community experience.
I have served as a Saanich Councillor and as a Capital Regional District Director for the past eight years. For the past four years I have been Chair of the CRD Board.
Prior to my election I served on the executive of the Royal Oak Community Association and on several Saanich advisory committees.
I was a member of the inaugural Leadership Victoria class.
Two fun pieces of trivia: I am a Chief Scout recipient and was one of the Victoria 1994 Commonwealth Games mascots.
Why are you running? What’s your motivation?
I am running because I enjoy serving the residents of Saanich and the Capital Region. I feel it is one’s obligation to give back to the community they live and work in.
I am also motivate to see the policy work the current Council has created become enacted and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
What are your top three issues?
While it is difficult to pick only three; housing, road safety and the environment are certainly top of mind as I talk to residents.
Housing affordability is a multi-jurisdictional issue but Saanich can do more to ensure affordability is a lens we look at for all new multi-unit buildings. We also need to ensure we are building the right types of units in the right locations.
Road Safety and Environmental Sustainability are also important topics this Council has developed strong policy to address. But there is more to do and I would like to help Saanich achieve these goals.
What’s your vision for your community in 25 years?
My vision is that Saanich is a place where everyone feels safe, welcome, can afford to live here and participates enthusiastically in their community.
It is a sustainable, green community where people of all ages are able to safely travel in their community and enjoy services, parks, and cultural activities that they can afford and enjoy. It is a place that is seen as a beacon for other jurisdictions on how to create an excellent municipality.
It is a place where First Nations’ culture, history and connection to the land is acknowledged, valued and celebrated. It is a carbon-neutral community.
It is where I am a grandfather to grandchildren who love to live here.
What’s one “big idea” you have for your community?
One “big idea” I would like to pursue is a unified regional Fire Department for the four core municipalities in the Capital Regional District.
These four departments each have professional full-time (career) members. However, each department needs at least one other department to provide mutual aid during certain fire events to achieve Canadian Level of Service Standards. These four municipalities each pay similar amounts per capita for Fire Services and the benefit of working together to provide the highest possible safety standards for our region’s residents has convinced me this is something that should be advanced.
