Working for a livable,
affordable & sustainable Victoria
I'm Dave Thompson, and I'm running for re-election to Victoria City Council and the CRD Board.
Over the past four years, I've focused on the issues that matter most to Victoria residents:
Building more homes
Making streets safer for everyone
Caring for our most vulnerable neighbours
Taking meaningful action on climate change
Victoria is an incredible city, but too many people are struggling with affordability and housing. More work remains to create complete communities that are welcoming, safe, environmentally sustainable, and accessible for everyone.
SIGN UP FOR CAMPAIGN UPDATES
Receive campaign news, event invitations, volunteer opportunities and policy updates.
Policy Platform
I've built my platform, and remain open to ideas as I continue to engage with Victorians:
Victoria needs more homes - and more variety of homes - for families, seniors, people with disabilities, workers, and people at every income level. More homes of every type gives people more choices, and eases pressure on the more affordable homes we already have.
- Approve more homes: continue to approve all sorts of homes, especially affordable non-market, rental, and family homes (duplexes, townhouses, etc).
- Faster permits: Shorten the path from application to a finished building.
- Grow non-market housing: Strengthen partnerships and advocate for senior-government funding to build non-profit and co-op affordable homes. Begin implementing our ambitious 5,000 by 2045 plan at the CRHC.
- Protect renters: Monitor implementation of our new Tenant Protection Bylaw, and strengthen it as needed. I will continue to champion “Right to Cool” policy so seniors and other renters are not at risk from excessive indoor temperatures during heat domes.
- Build in the right places: Encourage walkable, complete neighbourhoods near transit hubs. This will aid in affordability, and reduce pollution and traffic congestion.
Too many people in our communities are sick, unsheltered and dying from a toxic drug supply. Health care is a provincial responsibility with federal funding, but to encourage the provincial and federal governments to adopt solutions, Council sometimes tests pilot projects. I will continue to champion compassionate care innovation for our most vulnerable, and safer streets for all.
- Clear the recovery pathway: Johnson Manor, which our Council helped open, now houses 20 people in sober transitional housing, freeing up 20 spaces in detox and treatment facilities, and helping 20 people off the streets. I will work with the Province and other partners to encourage more sober transitional housing.
- Housing that works: I will advocate for more shelters and supportive housing across the region to help people off the street in their own communities, and press for better coordination across health, housing and social services.
- Community safety and wellbeing: I support implementing the next stages of the City's Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan, and I continue to urge senior governments to fix justice-system gaps that affect local safety, like my successful motions on bail reform and fugitive return.
Our City and region need to meet the mobility and travel needs of all our citizens, now and as we look to the future. You and your family should be safe, and our transportation system should provide you with affordable, interconnected options.
- Safer crosswalks, better sidewalks: More visible crosswalks, wider sidewalks without obstructions, and welcoming wheelchair and mobility devices on our protected infrastructure.
- Better transit: Advance bus priority signals and lanes, so buses can move people faster and more efficiently.
- Finish the network: Close the remaining gaps in the protected bike-and-roll network, and advocate for continued provincial and federal grants that pay for it.
- Safer intersections: Continue support for automated red-light and speed enforcement , and the use of crash data to facilitate road design improvements.
- Regional trails: Continued widening of the CRD’s regional trails so more people on foot and bikes and using mobility aids can share them safely.
Climate change means more heat domes, wildfires, smoke and floods — as well as increased costs borne by all of us. Cities control much of what matters, including where we build, how we move, and how new buildings are heated and cooled. I am committed to strengthening Victoria’s climate resilience and supporting our energy transition.
- Clean, efficient buildings: Help existing buildings (residential and commercial) move from fossil fuels to clean electricity, with clear benchmarking targets, monitoring, reporting, supports and incentives.
- More trees and green space: add more street trees, especially in urban heat islands (dense built-up areas); add a dog park and more green space downtown.
- Clean energy: Invest in affordable renewable-energy city vehicles, and urge the province to facilitate solar power for residents and businesses.
- Bring the Youth Climate Corps to Victoria & the CRD: Provide support for youth to take action on the climate crisis through employment and empowerment opportunities.
- Propose a financing plan for residents investing in clean energy: Clean Energy Investment Programs allow homeowners to borrow cheaply to install electric heat pumps, and pay back the costs through energy bill savings.
A clean, lively downtown and healthy, active neighbourhoods make Victoria a better place to live and do business. Our diverse and historic neighbourhoods make our city more interesting and a dynamic place to visit. I will continue to work to strengthen our neighbourhoods, businesses and organizations to make our city and region an even better place to live and raise a family.
- Support arts and culture: Help artists, festivals, venues and events to bring more people downtown and to our city year-round.
- Heritage: Invest in our cultural communities, including Chinatown's revitalization and other cultural centres, and heritage events.
- Community places: Deliver the Crystal Pool replacement with strong cost controls, and press for a regionalized Pool and Recreation Centre Service at the CRD..
- Downtown and neighbourhood upkeep: Follow through on enforcement against derelict and neglected properties, and keep downtown clean and welcoming for all ages and abilities.
- Good jobs: Continue Victoria’s Living Wage Employer status, oppose privatization, and implement my successful Fair Wage motion for trade workers hired by City contractors.
- Invest in children and healthcare: Continue to advance my successful 'Downtown Health and Wellness Clinic’ motion supporting the Inter Cultural Association, and for more healthcare and childcare across the cIty.
I will continue my approach of listening to residents, businesses and other experts, working constructively with others, making evidence-based decisions, and using money carefully.
- Listen: Engage with citizens and our front-line public workers directly through methods that reach a range of different organizations and individuals, including my open-to-the-public coffee chats, and through the City’s annual public opinion surveys and staff outreach and engagement work.
- Communicate out: Direct City staff to more clearly and frequently communicate the City’s actions and budget information.Counter misinformation with clear, sourced information, and respect differing views.
- Keep growing the tax base: more homes means more revenue, economies of scale, and lower tax rates.
- Efficient and cost-effective public services: Keep capital project costs within budget to protect funding for programs and services that residents rely on. Focus on outcomes, and learn from what works elsewhere.
Thoughtful, successful Reconciliation efforts improves lives, are good for business and investment certainty, and are the right thing to do. This requires working respectfully with First Nations and our urban Indigenous population.
- Government to government: Continue to support respectful engagement with the Songhees and Xwsepsum (Kosapsum) Nations.
- Follow their lead: Listen to and support the Nations' reconciliation processes.
- Bring relevant experience: I co-founded worked for a firm that works for and supports Indigenous communities on land-use and industrial development issues in their territories, and I continue to bring that understanding to this work.
Many of the problems we need to solve, from housing and homelessness to transit and climate, don't stop at Victoria's borders. I will continue my collaborative work on the CRD board to find cost-effective joint solutions, and invest in public services for the whole region.
- At the Capital Regional District Board: Press for transit that works across municipal boundaries, enhanced pollution reduction action, and for more of the region's growth to occur in walkable, transit-rich areas.
- At the Capital Regional Housing Corporation: Keep building, protecting and renewing affordable homes across the region; increase our ambition and delivery.
- Regional services: Work toward a regional approach for first responders, a pools and recreation service, and, and shelter and support services.
For an indication of how this platform evolved with your input, visit my: