It’s been a privilege of sitting on the Executive of AVICC since 2022. I think we have a good team and I feel that this year, particularly, we made significant progress in reviewing the organization’s mandate and strategic focus. Part of this was driven by UBCM’s decision to change their resolutions process, but it was also time for us to take a good look at what our members expect and what we have capacity to deliver.

I’m especially happy that we’ve made some progress in our push for reform of the Local Government Act. Updating the legislation that enables/disables regional districts is a critical step in helping us to meet current challenges, and it’s essential that electoral area directors’ voices be heard in the process. Keeping this issue on the radar of the provincial government is going to require constant advocacy and continued collaboration with the other area associations.

As the largest of the five area associations in BC, AVICC also has the largest number of EA directors (55), so I feel that the EA representative role is important. I have worked closely with UBCM’s EA representative, Jerrilyn Kirk, to see that our issues get attention, and participated in the EA Forum in March.

I have lived on the Sunshine Coast since 1996 and have been involved in many community organizations, including the Gibsons Public Library, Transportation Choices, Community Futures, the Self Employed Women’s Network, the Coast Car Co-op, the Sunshine Coast Trails Society, and Streamkeepers.

I was elected to the Sunshine Coast Regional District in 2018, and acclaimed in 2022, as Director for Elphinstone (Area E), in the territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation. I maintain a constituency website (EverythingElphinstone.ca), publish a monthly newsletter, and support the advocacy efforts of numerous community/neighbourhood associations and grassroots groups in my area.

My full bio is on my website: everythingelphinstone.ca