With four Victoria mayoral candidates in the mix so far, voters will have choices to make come October.
The same goes for the race for eight councillor positions, which in most civic elections draws a full slate of candidates. While sitting councillors Geoff Young, Pamela Madoff and Ben Isitt have confirmed they plan to run Oct. 20, a newcomer to the field recently declared her candidacy.
Grace Lore, a 32-year-old adjunct professor of political science at the University of Victoria, is also a small business owner and a mother of two small children. Asked her reason for deciding to run, she said she looked at her own family and didn’t see their demographic well represented on council.
Without that voice, she added, certain problems couldn’t be addressed properly.
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“I was struck by the fact that there are half the kids here than in comparable cities,” Lore said. She pointed to a national average showing 17 per cent of the population is under 14, versus nine per cent in Victoria.
“I think that’s telling us about who can stay in Victoria and find housing that’s attainable and suitable.”
As such, her focus will be on affordable housing, and she wants to see young families and seniors more comfortable in the city. “If we lose youth, we are losing customers and businesses. So we need to get a bit creative with housing and childcare options.”
Lore and her family live in the basement of a home owned by friends in Fernwood. She said the arrangement is great as they can count on their friends for help, from something as simple as some extra milk, to having someone keep an eye on their kids.
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“If we can get a bit creative with diversified housing we could keep more families here,” she said.
Lore grew up in Calgary, taught at UBC and has lived in Victoria for the past five years.
Among other current City councillors, Chris Coleman, Charlayne Thornton-Joe and Margaret Lucas told the News they are undecided, while Jeremy Loveday and Marianne Alto had not responded to our request at the time of this writing.