When Diana Gibson hits the street in Oak Bay-Gordon Head she hears her personal top concerns echoed on doorsteps.
Housing and healthcare are the top two, followed by affordability, environment and climate change.
“These are the issues I care deeply about,” she said. “We’ve been through so much these last few years, and we’ve got big challenges we still need to tackle. I hear it every day – people want action to make life easier and more affordable.”
Those themes remain in her latest door-knocking this year as the BC NDP candidate for the seat currently held by retiring MLA and cabinet minister Murray Rankin.
A member of the riding’s BC NDP executive, she has knocked on thousands of doors during and between elections and is active with many community organizations.
“Interestingly, I’ve also heard at the door that the government is making a difference,” she said, adding there are folks who recently got a family doctor or nurse practitioner or $10 a day childcare.
“That’s partly what I’m excited about being part of the next government, we know we can’t afford to go backward on those things.”
With her own three kids on the path toward launching into the world, she worries about their ability to participate in the neighbourhood they grew up in.
“I want them to be able to stay in our community,” she said.
Daily campaigning, in person or by phone, doesn’t hold her back from enjoying the urban and rural nature of the area. Gibson enjoys the area particularly with her family at her side, whether it’s hiking, cycling or swimming.
“Our riding and our region is so incredibly beautiful and full of beautiful places to explore,” she said, understanding the desire by residents to have children and grandparents able to remain.
For Gibson, running as the candidate in her own neighbourhood to tackle some of this ongoing concerns feels like a natural progression, building on years of work alongside business, all levels of government and community to solve issues.
An award-winning community social planner, policy advisor, and entrepreneur, Gibson's life’s work is to make life better for people.
She co-founded the Firelight Group – now the largest Indigenous-owned consulting firm – to partner with First Nations and local communities to protect their land and water and create good jobs and sustainable economic development. Leading the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria, her team launched the region's Rent Bank and helped more than 2,000 households avoid eviction during the pandemic.
She plans to bring those academic, business and community-building skills to the role of MLA.
“I would take that job really seriously … of listening and representing our riding and presenting some of the challenges I’m hearing at the door,” she said.
While hearing folks happy with improvements in health care, gaps remain – particularly in the mental health field.
“People in Oak Bay-Gordon Head rely on strong public services like healthcare. We need a government that will invest in stronger services, not a government that will cut,” said Gibson. “Privatizing and cutting public healthcare carries so many risks that we just can’t afford. I won't let it happen."
