Sarah Lovegrove

"Reassess existing municipal budget and areas of excessive spending to fund the interventions and services our community needs without adding to the burden of individual taxpayers. Implement a sustainable strategy to reallocate fiscal resources from areas of excessive spending toward developing and upscaling evidence-based interventions that address upstream preventative solutions to improve safety and wellness for all, while saving taxpayers money and costs in other areas such as reducing pressures on the hospital, emergency department, first responders, neighbourhoods, and local businesses. Explore options for the municipal implementation of a progressive wealth tax. Utilize these long-term savings to fund much-needed infrastructure development and improvement efforts, thereby minimizing the burden on taxpayers beyond annual inflation rates as determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Ensure that every public dollar is spent effectively by shifting funding toward programs that demonstrate results."

"Expedite the development processes for community health centres, which models the integration of access to primary care with mental health care and helps in addressing the social determinants of health. Meaningfully explore options within municipal capacity for enhancing primary care options, including recruitment of Nurse Practitioners and NP-led clinics like the Nexus Primary Care Clinic; as well as adopting a Colwood Clinic model to attract physicians and other providers to our area. Advocate for accelerated payment, permitting, and building processes for the construction of new healthcare infrastructure at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital to meet the needs of the immediate population. Increase advocacy efforts with the provincial government to follow up on their election promise to fund required healthcare infrastructure in Nanaimo for a new cardiac catheterization (cath) lab and patient care tower. Collaborate with Island Health, the province, Vancouver Island University, and related advocacy groups/efforts (including Tod Maffin’s Healthcare Infusion) in initiatives that bring more healthcare workers to Nanaimo to fill necessary gaps in care services."

"Immediately implement comprehensive, equitable, and community-centred review processes, with thorough environmental risk assessments, including water and power usage, for zoning and building considerations related to AI infrastructure and data centres. Implementation of a moratorium on application approvals for all AI infrastructure and data centres until the comprehensive, equitable, and community-centred review process has been established."

"Enhance accessibility and bikeability of the city. Expand free transit changes to include all students, meaningfully exploring options for free public transit for all. Establish a community-informed approach to identify necessary areas of improvement in efficiency, availability, and accessibility of local public transit options (for example, improving availability and accessibility of public transit between North & South Nanaimo). Improve the accessibility of transit infrastructure by adding benches and covers to bus stops wherever feasible. Ensure public transit is run as a public service, not contracted out to private companies. Advocate for collaborative Island-wide investment in advancing the multi-use function and accessibility of the Island Corridor Rail system."

"Enshrine a local Housing First model, in accordance with the established Declaration of Housing as a Human Right. Leverage full power and influence of the municipal government and Mayoral office to substantially increase advocacy efforts with the provincial and federal governments to maximize funding for affordable and supportive housing opportunities. Meaningfully explore options to utilize city-owned land, buildings, and the municipal purchase and/or incentivization of empty buildings for non-market housing options, accessible day spaces, and emergency shelters. Implement a full spectrum of market and non-market housing options for all, including working with all levels of government to establish accessible publicly-funded long-term & memory care facilities, family-centred housing, housing for seniors with fixed income; as well as supportive and transitional housing that meets people where they are at, including access to supportive housing with wraparound services, dry housing, and housing that supports people along the continuum of recovery. Explore options to implement rent and vacancy control for all market- and non-market rental residential units. Specifically, the implementation of a bylaw to prevent disproportionate rent increases by property owners between residential tenancy agreements. Protect the existing supply of public non-market (modular) housing. Increase the stock of public non-market (modular) units with wrap-around support services. Ensure that social housing rents are available at or below the shelter rate. Implement a Right to Cool bylaw, which mandates that landlords maintain at least one space within rental units that can always reach a liveable temperature range (21-26 degrees Celsius) with acceptable ventilation and air quality."

"Adopt a human-rights based approach to encampment responses and end the practice of forcible decampment of unhoused people from public lands; ensuring that any relocation of encamped people from public lands is done with consent, moves the individual(s) into a safe and appropriate alternative housing arrangement, and takes place without the destruction or confiscation of personal property Support community-led responses to people in crisis and distress that emphasizes wrap-around healthcare, diversion from criminal justice involvement, and reduces strain on emergency departments. Advocate to the provincial and federal governments for the robust expansion of publicly-funded voluntary, culturally-safe, and trauma-informed mental health and substance use care options, including harm reduction, detox, recovery, and transitional care options. As per BC Ministerial Order M488, support the continuity of overdose prevention sites’ operations through the leverage of zoning powers and approvals and collaborative action with Island Heath Authority. Enhance municipal support for harm reduction programs and overdose prevention sites, including peer-led and mobile service options for accessibility across all areas of Nanaimo. Ensure cross-sector municipal participation and collaboration in the provincially-funded Nanaimo Community Action Team (NCAT) to address local impacts of the Toxic Drug Poisoning Crisis, Alcohol & Substance Use. Meaningfully explore options to utilize city-owned land, buildings, and the municipal purchase of empty buildings for the development of recovery-centred communities and supportive programming for people in substance use recovery. Offer municipally-funded learning & training opportunities to cross-sector public service providers in crisis deescalation, overdose response, and Naloxone administration, including public libraries, recreation spaces, and public-facing local businesses most impacted. Adequately fund and staff municipally-run and/or non-profit contracted year-round shelters, drop-in centres, outreach centres, cooling and warming spaces, and community support programs. Acknowledge that not every emergency requires the same type of response and advocate to the provincial government to fund 24/7 community-led crisis response teams for mental health and substance use emergencies, established through local community partners. In collaboration with Island Health and community partners, adopt minimum standards for overdose prevention services to enhance safety, improve consistency, and ensure greater oversight for clients, staff delivering life-saving services, and members of the community."

"Explore vacancy taxation options to incentivize the use of long-standing empty private buildings and spaces for local artists, musicians, and small businesses. Increase opportunities for working people. Living Wage for all municipal employees and contractors. Institute maximum safe working temperatures and air quality policies and protections for all municipal employees and contractors. Dedicate municipal funding to support compliance with these workplace safety standards."

"Ensure any municipal employees or contractors who interact with vulnerable populations (including, but not limited to, RCMP, fire, bylaw and community safety officers) receive comprehensive training in trauma-informed practices, cultural safety, and non-violent crisis intervention that is informed by people with lived experience. Enhance municipal support for frontline and first responders, recognizing the significant changes in environmental workplace stressors, including increased risk, impact, and psychological toll of required responses. Increase municipal investment in sustainable and inclusive youth programming, organized recreation, employment, and violence prevention initiatives. Strengthen victim services, sexual assault supports, domestic and interpersonal violence supports, and restorative justice programs. Expand annual compensation limits and scope of Vandalism Relief Fund to be inclusive of all businesses within the City of Nanaimo. Ensure any municipal committees or tables that address housing and/or community safety are inclusive of people with lived and living experience with homelessness, displacement, substance use, and/or carceral practices such as involuntary care. Establish systems to regularly evaluate which interventions demonstrate reduction in crime, improvements in public and individual health, and enhance neighbourhood safety."

"Maintain reliable, 24/7 access to public washrooms and running water in parks and public facilities as cooling and warming areas. Prioritize funding options for development of new and enhanced public third-spaces and pro-social activities for all ages across the community. Enshrine the Right to Food. Develop a framework for meeting food security targets for all residents. Develop an emergency food system plan to enact during supply chain disruptions. Simplify, improve, and incentivize access to public land for growing local food for non-profit, community group, and individual use. Support and incentivize the development of publicly-run food stores to meet healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food needs. Establish permanent, 3x/day, 7 day/week accessible food options to support people facing food insecurity, including warm meals. Support and incentivize the stability and continuity of community food banks, nonprofit food stores, urban farms, market incentives, and other food sovereignty initiatives to support local growers and makers and reduce food waste. Protection and prioritization of environmental safety for delicate and/or endangered ecosystems. Collaboratively work with community partners to ensure development of new and enhancement of existing green spaces to optimize access for all community members. Ensure that climate disaster readiness plans incorporate strategies for the safety and well-being of unhoused, precariously-housed, and economically marginalized communities, including seniors and people with disabilities. Advocate for enhanced air quality standards (filtration, flow, temperature) within all municipal spaces for greater accessibility and safety for all. Ensure reliable access to water, warming, and cooling spaces year-round. Expand investment for public libraries and index this investment to inflation, recognizing the increased pressures on staff and greater utilization of public library spaces in lieu of adequate daytime cooling and warming spaces. Collaborate with all levels of government to invest in creating and maintaining public art spaces and music venues to support local artists and a growing arts scene."

"Invest in an adequately-staffed municipal public service to maintain reliable and timely access to public services. Collaborate with local transit authorities and Elections BC to develop and implement mobile voting stations in both rural and urban areas. Work with local transit authorities to ensure free public transit during elections. Ensure that appropriate resources are dedicated to enabling voter participation of people without a fixed address or personal identification who demonstrably live within the municipality. Advocate to extend municipal voter enfranchisement to permanent residents. Explore options for electoral reform to reflect equitable approaches to public election processes, including (but not limited to) establishing parameters for spending on signage to mitigate environmental impact, as well as leveraging municipal power to advocate for proportional representation in both provincial and federal elections. Commit to engaging in equity-oriented, ethical, and evidence-based governance, decision-making, and fiscal management that is human rights-based and strengthens the social determinants of health. Work with the community to identify barriers and improve access to governance processes for greater equity, inclusion, and transparency. Enhance government transparency through improved public communications, including improved use of social media, to provide sufficient public notice of events, nomination processes, and calls for public feedback and participation. Establish a streamlined municipal public concern/complaint process to ensure concerns are heard and sufficiently addressed through the appropriate channels. Promote public education and understanding of municipal governance and participation. Improve tone and culture of public meetings for safety, equity, accessibility, and enhanced public participation, including the immediate removal of hierarchical title use (i.e., “Your Worship”) in municipal proceedings and workplaces."

"Institute an equity policy for event permitting to ensure publicly owned venues and spaces are not used to host anti-2SLGBTQIA+, racist, or otherwise discriminatory events. Expand scope of Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Inclusiveness to incorporate and recognize mental health and substance use disorder(s) as documented disabilities for consideration in committee priorities and decision-making. Enact processes wherein the municipal government formally recognizes the realities and impacts of geopolitical violence and unrest on the wellbeing of local citizens and advocates for human rights on a global scale. Enact Sanctuary City policies across municipal facilities, programs, and services to ensure that all community members can access City services without being asked about their immigration status."

"In alignment with UNDRIP, collaborate with local First Nations to preserve and restore Indigenous peoples’ access to traditional food and harvesting rights. Prioritize conscious partnership and intentional consultation processes with Snuneymuxw First Nation in all council decision-making processes. As per the Federal Housing Advocate and Assembly of First Nations (AFN) joint recommendations, “work in full partnership with First Nations to identify the priorities, objectives, and resources needed to respond to climate emergencies impacting First Nations Lands, Waters, and Air.” Uphold the (municipal and/or provincial) commitments made to UNDRIP by ensuring that municipally-led reconciliation work is adequately resourced."

"Advocate for the provincial government to amend the BC Building Code regarding new builds and retrofits for Right to Cool legislation to be meaningfully implemented. Advocate to the federal government and Health Canada for the immediate implementation of evidence-based drug policies for the purpose of: Reducing death and harm related to a toxic supply of illicit substances; Minimizing street-level, survival-based criminal activity (including, but not limited to, violence, vandalism, and theft); and, Reducing illicit market demand for substances, thereby minimizing high-level criminal activity. Advocate to the Ministry of Labour for maximum safe working temperature regulations and workplace protections across industries in BC."

"Protect and maintain SOGI 123 curriculum in public schools."

"Simplify (re)zoning permits and business licensing processes, and incentivize the development of $10-a-day childcare spaces; with priority for 24 hour/day, 7 days/week option for healthcare and shift workers. Advocate to the provincial and federal governments for a renewed commitment to affordable, nonprofit $10-a-day spaces. Support local organizations who engage with families and children impacted by addictions, substance use and the Toxic Drug Crisis, including culturally-safe and trauma-informed grief and bereavement support. Support and invest in local organizations that address Adverse Childhood Experiences through evidence-based programming that enhance protective factors, mitigate risk factors, and minimize long-term impacts including, but not limited to, child and youth recreation, early learning opportunities, literacy, and life-skill development."