Brian for Cowichan
Brian Chambers
for North Cowichan Council
A community is its people. Everything else is secondary.
I care whether my children can afford to stay here.
I care that their friends can.
And their friends’ friends.
I care whether they can find good jobs here, build homes here, raise families here, and still recognize the community they grew up in.
That is why I am running.
Who I Am
Entrepreneur. IT Pro. Professor. Fire Fighter. Writer. Creator. Dad. Husband.
I am an unknown to a lot of people, and there is a reason for that.
I have not spent years as an activist or agitator. I am not running because of one issue, one grievance, or one fight with Council.
I am running because I am I think we’ve drifted off course.
I would like to work one of the oars that pushes us back on track, and I will put my back into it with the same vigor I have put into the rest of my life.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, and I don’t expect to agree with everyone else.
I do expect that we all go into this with an understanding that we share the same goal: a better life for everyone here.
I will tell you what I believe, I will explain why I believe it, and when elected I will listen to your beliefs, and why you believe them.
What I Believe
1. Public Safety
Compassion cannot end with the person in crisis.
We must have compassion for your grandmother who is afraid to wait for the bus, your coworker cleaning human waste before work, and your family wondering which streets and parks are safe anymore.
They deserve our compassion too.
In fact, they deserve our compassion first.
Our streets are not campsites.
Public drug use should not be accepted anywhere in public.
“They are going to do it anyway” is not a policy.
When elected, I will support clear rules and consistent enforcement. People in crisis deserve a path out of crisis. The rest of us deserve safe streets, parks, businesses and neighbourhoods.
2. Local Business and Jobs
When the Crofton mill closed, hundreds of families suddenly had to figure out what came next.
Helping people afterward is necessary.
But it is reactive.
Good government reads the writing on the wall.
Council cannot control global markets or provincial forestry policy. It can help make sure one employer disappearing does not leave hundreds of families wondering whether there is anything else here for them.
Businesses create jobs.
Entrepreneurs create businesses.
Farmers grow farms.
Manufacturers build things.
Government does not need to do that for them.
Give people room to build, and they will fill it.
Every big business started as a small one, with someone who had a dream and the ambition to make it happen.
When elected, I want Council to make room for those people and for the businesses already here to grow.
3. Taxes, Spending and Transparency
Government is going to spend money.
The question is where it went, why it was spent, and whether it worked.
North Cowichan’s budget dashboard is a great start.
But transparency has to mean more than a bar graph.
We should not have to become experts in municipal government to understand where our own money went.
Residents should be able to move from a broad spending category to the project, contractor, invoice, Council decision, original budget, final cost and result.
If a project goes over budget, explain why.
If something does not work, say so.
And no matter how much money or effort has already gone into it, be willing to let it go.
When elected, I will push for municipal spending that is searchable, sortable and understandable.
Tell us where the money went. Tell us why. Then tell us whether it worked.
4. Focus on the Job
You know how to run your life.
Business owners know how to run their businesses.
Farmers know how to farm.
Parents know how to raise their families.
Government needs to know its lane.
Council already has an important job. Roads, water, sewer, public safety, infrastructure, parks, planning, permits and the services we rely on every day.
Do that job well.
At the same time, bad decisions made in Victoria and Ottawa do not stay there.
We get stuck dealing with the consequences.
They land on our streets, in our parks, in our businesses, and in our families’ lives.
Not our jurisdiction does not mean not our problem.
When elected, I will push back when decisions made elsewhere hurt us. I will also push to keep Council out of the parts of our lives where it does not belong.
5. Growth That Makes Sense
Growth is not just more people, more roofs, more traffic and more fast food joints.
Growth is a room full of generations and a yard full of children.
Growth is a world-class education and the job of your dreams.
Growth is a vibrant economy built by the people who call Cowichan home.
We need to build for the future we want, not the crisis we have.
Housing starts with the people who already call this home.
Your children should be able to stay.
Your parents should be able to stay.
Your friends should be able to stay.
And when people move here, I want people who want to grow with us, build businesses here, raise families here and contribute to the place they now call home.
Our housing reports can tell us how many units to plan for.
Our OCP can help us decide what kind of community those homes create.
When elected, I will treat the OCP as a tool. Where it works, use it. Where it does not, change it.
A housing target counts doors. A community has to think about the lives behind them.
6. Farming and Farmland
The food on your table starts with somebody willing and able to grow it.
That person needs land.
We can build another house. We can build another road. We can build another shopping centre.
We cannot build more farmland.
Farmers know how to farm.
Council should listen to them.
Protecting farmland matters, but protecting the idea of a farm while making it impossible for the farmer to make a living misses the point.
A farm stand can become a farm store.
A farm store can become a processing business.
A cidery, tasting room or bottling operation can make a farm stronger.
A subdivision replaces a farm. A successful farm business can help keep one alive.
When elected, I will protect productive farmland while giving farmers room to farm, build businesses and flourish.
How I Will Approach Council
I build things and fix things.
That has taught me to understand the problem, decide what success looks like, get to work, and measure the result.
It has also taught me something just as important.
When something isn’t working, let it go.
It does not matter how much time, effort or money has already gone into it.
Council should be willing to do the same.
Look ahead.
Read the writing on the wall.
Make decisions.
Measure the results.
Change course when the evidence says we should.
And remember who all of this is for.
A community is its people. Everything else is secondary.
Let’s Talk
I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.
I want to hear from people who do and people who don’t.
Tell me what you believe.
Tell me why you believe it.
When elected, that conversation does not stop.