Defining Myself: The Short(ish) Backstory

I have lived mostly in Greater Victoria since late 1996 arriving on the day of the 1996 Blizzard, I was nearly 18 when I moved here with not much more than a suitcase and acceptance to the University of Victoria. I have truly grown up here - putting myself through university with a combination of small scholarships, student loans, minimum wage jobs and work on campus during undergraduate school and beginning my career and juggling work and studies during my Masters. During my undergraduate university years I worked behind the counter at the Uptown Tim Horton's, I worked as the hostess at Japanese Village, I worked as the copy-editor for the Martlet, and I worked as a telephone surveyor for R.A. Malatest and Associates. During those university years I rented: a room in a family home in Gordon Head, a small bachelor apartment in the Glanford area, a room in a 4 bedroom basement suite with 3 other room mates in Gordon Head, and a two-bedroom suite in a houseplex in Esquimalt shared with a roommate. During those years, my bike was my main form of transportation with the bus being backup transportation, aside from that I'd walk from point A to B. I recall not really having time for hobbies, I couldn't really afford them. I recall not having a TV or cable, again luxuries beyond my student budget. 

It was after I finished my first degree, that I was offered a job that paid a living wage, a job that I would consider to be the start of my career. Through the Youth Employment Program (YEP), I was brought on as an Employment Standards Officer to work out of the Victoria office. That job meant that I could finally afford to rent a better apartment in a better part of town, a two bedroom in Cook Street Village. It meant that I could finally afford to buy a car, a 1992 Mazda Miata (with a loan at nearly 10 percent interest). As they were willing to be flexible with my schedule and accommodated my graduate level course work in the fall, that I wouldn't need additional student loans. I enjoyed my time with the Employment Standards Branch, helping employees recover compensation they were entitled to receive and learning about administrative justice. I was disheartened when as part of the Liberal election win, the core review determined that there would be massive cuts to the Employment Standards Branch and that my position was collateral damage. I did not have seniority - and so my first "real job" ended 15 months after it began. 

I then decided to access the co-op program at UVic - and was able to secure co-op employment in the fall. My first co-op position was with Tourism BC - in a small research group led by a sessional instructor I had had for 4 or 5 of my courses at UVic. My position with Tourism BC began September 1, 2001. I recall ironing my work clothes for the day and watching the news on September 11, 2001. I remember riding the bus into work - and thinking that the world wouldn't ever quite be the same. My work term would be cut short as a result of the fall out of that day, ending two weeks early. My second co-op position would be with the Ministry of Forests that spring.

I managed to secure a position with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) as an Industrial Relations Officer in Vancouver the following summer (they could accommodate the rest of my graduate coursework in the fall). I rented a small apartment in the West End and planned to ride my bike to work - unfortunately my bike was stolen shortly after I started working with the CIRB so for the most part I'd walk to and from work, leaving my car mostly parked for evening and weekend use. In the fall I'd commute back and forth to Victoria to finish my coursework - not spending much time at my apartment, I decided to put most of my stuff in storage and moved into my cousin's place in Burnaby - sleeping on a futon in her living room on nights when I'd work the next day. I'd take the bus into work most days and leave my car largely parked. I had managed to accumulate some savings, so I bought RRSPs that year with the plan of using them and the tax refund to buy my first condo. I found a condo in Burnaby - a lovely one bedroom town house in my price range and bought it, my stuff would finally have a place to move into. Little did I know, I'd find myself unemployed less than four months later, it seemed to come out of the blue. I was done my graduate coursework at that point and nearly done my extended essay (the last part of my graduate studies) - I would have to find a way to make do.

I decided that the next step I'd take would be as an Economic Consultant. I contacted a variety of economic consulting firms and offered my services as a sub-contractor. I did some work with Roslyn Kunin and Associates on labour supply in the construction industry, and then I found contract work with Grant Thornton in their Vancouver office. I'd continue to look for a permanent position, hoping to return to Victoria as I had a boyfriend here and found myself spending a lot of time on the ferries.  I would defend my extended essay in December 2003, and would graduate with my Masters in Economics in May 2004.  In August 2004 I was offered a position with the BC Vital Statistics Agency as an economist - and found myself moving back to Victoria. While I was ready to move in together with my boyfriend, he was not - despite having dated a little more than two years at that point. Unfortunately, my condo did not sell quickly, and due to the strata rules, I could not rent it out - I would need to rent while carrying the mortgage on my condo until it would sell.  Things would be tight for a while. Thankfully, the condo sold, and with the proceeds I was able to pay off my student loans and put the rest aside for a future down payment. Over the next few years, I'd continue to rent, the long term relationship would end, and I'd continue working for the provincial government. 

December 2006 - I was ready to leave, not just Victoria but the county - and I began the process to immigrate to the UK. That New Year's Eve fate intervened and I met Darren. In just a few months we would decide to move in together and I would scuttle my plans to move to the United Kingdom. I would continue my work as an economist with the Ministry of Health while learning how to be step mom to two kids who were then aged 6 and 10. The following year, we would be informed that the house we were renting was put on the market as the owners were going through a divorce, and so we found ourselves moving at the end of September 2008 to another rental in Fairfield. In late October 2008 we got engaged and we would plan a wedding for May 2009.

At the end of January 2009, Darren's dad died unexpectedly while kiteboarding during a vacation in Mexico - we had been en route to join them when we heard the news. We would immediately return to Victoria as Darren's family made plans for his dad's funeral. Often, it is in times of challenge that we learn the most about those we love and those that love them - and in the wake of a devastating death, I knew the family I was about to join was nothing less than remarkable in their commitment to each other. 

May long weekend came, and with it we said our vows aboard a boat docked in Victoria's inner harbour -our closest family members and friends by our side as we made our commitment to each other and to the life we would build together. We had planned a second reception for later in the summer to accommodate family in Alberta, an event that would never come to pass. 

That July, tragedy would again strike, this time on my side of the family.  My grandmother, aunt and uncle would lose their lives to a drunk driver just outside of Leduc. Rather than a second wedding reception, we would find ourselves in Alberta to attend to a funeral.  

In November 2009, we discovered we would be adding to our family, and given the childcare challenges in Victoria we put ourselves on the waiting list for daycare almost immediately. Our future daycare provider likely knew we were expecting long before many other people in our lives. We welcomed our daughter to the family in July 2010, her arrival itself a significant event. With some hesitation, we decided a second child would be a good idea, and the new year of 2012 brought with it news that we would add again to our family. Given the experience that I had had with my daughter, I spent most of my pregnancy seeing a therapist and commuting to Vancouver for prenatal appointments. Note - it was the experience with my daughter that caused me to start my first blog, Awaiting Juno, and would ultimately lead me to found the Cesarean By Choice Awareness Network - and my first foray into advocacy for others. As a result of those endeavours, I worked to raise awareness about maternal request cesareans, and help influence the change of policy with respect to maternal request cesareans in Canada, help women access the care and support they need during their pregnancies and formed a patient support group which today has more than 2,000 active members around the world. It was from this work, that I first started using twitter as @AwaitingJuno.

That spring (2012), we were in a position to buy the house that we had been renting and made an offer to the landlord. We were overjoyed when the offer we had made was accepted. While we loved the location - the hope was that someday we might be able to rebuild the home to better meet our needs. Our son joined our family in September 2012. 

It was while I was on maternity leave with my son, that my workplace was rocked by scandal. I would not know how much damage was done until I returned. I would leave the Ministry of Health and join the Ministry of Education in 2014. In August 2014, my husband would start a new firm with another lawyer, and we would begin being small business owners. At the start of 2016, we thought we were in a position to begin planning for rebuilding the house when it became apparent the business partnership was not working. That spring, the firm would be renamed, the partner would be bought out of the business, and we would continue the firm, our new name giving credit to our team. The rebuild would have to wait, and I would have to step up to support the firm in the ways I could. For the remainder of 2016, I spent my flex days working for the firm - marketing and business management activities.

It was also during the Spring of 2016 that I had my first experience with local politics at a very real level. At that time, the Waste Water Treatment Project was a topic of active debate - and Mayor Lisa Helps had volunteered Clover Point as a site for a Waste Water Treatment Plant. Neighbours convened meetings to resist the proposal - and I found myself involved directly, and took up the twitter end of resistance (@SaveCloverPt). How could I not step up to assist in the ways I could, when should it move forward the project would be within metres of our family home and hundreds of other homes in an intensely used and beloved public space (Clover Point Park)- along with whatever risks such industrial use involved? I think most accepted that a pump station would be located there, and that there'd be construction to upgrade it, but no one could reasonably accept such a dramatic change in use (and risks) and there was a need to ensure it did not move forward as imagined. Ultimately the neighbourhood banded together and succeeded - the Waste Water Treatment Plant would be located at McCauley Point in Esquimalt (a former tank farm and considerable distance away from intense residential use). The existing pump station would be upgraded (with 2-3 years of construction) and the public engagement on the project clearly indicated the point would eventually be returned to much as it was, with it's loop providing a place for people to look out and enjoy the ocean.  Sadly, council decided to disregard the results of the public consultation that was done as part of the wastewater treatment plant project - and moved to close the loop to traffic, ultimately deciding to close half the loop. The loss of Clover Point as a beloved, accessible look out spot continues today with the mayor attempting to rebrand it "Picnic Point". 

It was decided that come January 2017, I would leave my job as a Senior Economist with the province and join the firm full time - to better support the family on both the work and home fronts. In August 2017, we would decide to expand the firm - we would go from providing mostly litigation services in the areas of personal injury, estate law and marine law to also providing estate planning and administration services, real estate conveyance services and business law services. The office space immediately adjacent to our office became available, and we decided our firm would take over that space - the space was finished in the Spring of 2018. Later in December we would add a family lawyer to our team. Ultimately our firm would grow from a crew of about 11 to what is today a complement of 30 - a team I could not be prouder of the work they do and the work environment they have created. 

In January 2020 - a neighbour a few blocks away raised concerns about the use of parking along Dallas Road and noted that there had been garbage, noise and other issues associated with live aboard Recreational Vehicles overstaying in parking spaces on a local facebook group. There were many other comments from other neighbours who were also struggling with the issue. Interested in knowing more, I met with the neighbour to discuss the problem and discovered that her family had been trying to get the city to address the issue for nearly a year before hand without results. There was an existing bylaw limiting parking stays in the area to 3.5 hours, but it went largely unenforced. As a consequence - I started a petition on the issue, "Limit The Abuse of Dallas Road Parking". The petition garnered more than 1,000 signatures and ultimately resulted in the city declaring that it would enforce the parking bylaws on Dallas Road.

March 2020 - the pandemic hit, and it would seem all would be in flux. Our business needed to pivot to ensure work would continue and we enabled work from home for most of our staff, limiting in office staff to essential services. Our kids - then in grades 2 and 4 would not return to their school again as students, the school year would end with unplanned for home learning. That summer, there wouldn't be summer camps as there had been the years before - but work would continue, we were able to find limited assistance for childcare. We would make the decision to switch our children into the independent school system. While our eldest would graduate from the University of Toronto - there would be no graduation ceremony. We would adapt where we needed to and pivot to ensure our business could continue as best as possible. As a distraction, we'd start working on our plans to rebuild our family home with the hope of building something to serve our family for the decades to come.

That summer, Beacon Hill Park would be lost to inappropriate use as an unmanaged and largely unmitigated "tent city" - and I would find myself, again pulled into a neighbourhood group wanting the park restored. Cynthia Diadick courageously started a petition - Save Beacon Hill Park - that would garner more than 30,000 signatures. Roy Fletcher, then President of the Friends of Beacon Hill Park agreed to undertake legal action with the goal of protecting and restoring the park to appropriate use provided fundraising could support the legal action. I did what I could - including managing the facebook page for the group (Save Beacon Hill Park) and the twitter account (@BeaconSave). I would do what I could to raise awareness about the efforts to restore the park to appropriate use. As a result of those efforts - the court would determine that Beacon Hill Park cannot be used for sheltering. Disappointingly, the provincial government has decided to appeal that decision, and the Friends of Beacon Hill Park are looking to continue the legal defence of the park (Note: legal action against other parties with limitless pockets is expensive and as such the Friends of Beacon Hill Park continue to fundraise to support their endeavour to protect the park).

In 2021, I'd again have a community issue capture my attention with respect to the conversion of Richardson Street from a secondary collector road to a local street to facilitate another segment of the City's AAA bike network. In effect the road would be reserved for the purposes of cyclist traffic and local traffic alone - facilitated by the blockage of the road in several places and the installation of about a dozen speed bumps between Cook st. and Foul Bay. I found myself penning another petition: Keep Richardson Street Open to Traffic in the hopes of sending the plan back to the drawing board for a better solution that would meet the needs of cyclists and motorists alike. Sadly, council decided to proceed with the changes anyways, and as a consequence Fairfield Road and the two elementary schools on it, and the playground there have had an increase in traffic. In my opinion - safe bike lanes could be reasonably accommodated while maintaining traffic flow on this street. The fall out of that decision continues to impact our community.

The spring of 2021 would also bring news that my mom was facing a significant health challenge - and given that, I decided to clear parts of my plate and resigned from instructing an online economics course through UVic's continuing studies department. 

Through the fall of 2021, I began to consider whether or not I should run for Victoria City Council - I consulted with my family and sat with the decision for a long while. July14, 2021: I officially announced that I would be running for council this fall.