My life here

My roots are here.
So is my everyday.

I know Campbell River through a lifetime of ordinary things: school, work, raising a family, and the places I go when I need a little breathing room.

Fraser and me together outside — Most days, I have good company.

Home since 1967

I remember a smaller town.

Discovery Village was brand new. The forest began south of Evergreen. Willow Point was full of farms with horses. Growing up in the Rockland area, I could look toward Big Rock, Discovery Passage and Quadra Island. Those views are still part of how I know I’m home.

I left for school and work, then came back. My family was here, it was a place I could start a family, and owning a home felt within reach.

That last part stays with me. I want the young adults growing up here now to have a real chance to stay, work and make a home of their own.

Why that matters to my priorities

I learned early that small jobs are worth doing properly.

Books, bank accounts and a different kind of education.

At about twelve, I earned $28 putting checkout pockets into books at the Rockland Elementary library. Later, I filed papers, handled postage and helped at reception in my father’s law office.

My working life took me into banking with small-business clients, then financial analysis and regulatory work for a telephone company in the Yukon. I learned to look closely at costs, how a service works and who pays for it.

I eventually returned to school for law. I chose a small-town family practice, where a problem arrives with a person attached to it. I bring that mix of people, practical details and numbers to Council.

Away from the Council table

I’m usually making, growing or fixing something.

A free Saturday might mean the garden, a building project or a thrift-store find. I like figuring things out and making something useful from what I have.

I walk to work with Fraser, my Bernese Mountain Dog. At home, a belly rub is a perfectly good reason to stop what I’m doing.

I’m more informal than a Council meeting might suggest. My humour tends to be dry, British and a little unexpected.

I still stop for the view.

Coming into town from Oyster Bay, I love seeing the curve of the city, the mountains and the islands. The Seawalk, Elk Falls, McIvor Lake and time on the water remind me why I came back.

Me on the floor giving Fraser a belly rub — I can usually make time for one more belly rub.

Me laughing beside the Strathcona Park sign, with Fraser in front of me — Out for the day. I don’t take myself too seriously.

What I want to keep close

A working city, with the wild close by.

I know this place as a resource town with a practical streak. I also know how lucky I am to have forests, lakes and the ocean so close to everyday life.

I don’t see our future as a choice between having jobs and caring about this place. I want us to make room for the next generation while paying attention to what makes living here worthwhile.

The places I want to keep connected

Where my experience meets the jobHow I work on Council