This photo is from December 2018, with Mayor Ryan Windsor, Norm Doerksen, and me, during a period when Central Saanich was starting to take electric vehicles and charging infrastructure much more seriously.

I had already been pushing the issue for a few years.

In July 2016, I brought forward a Notice of Motion asking Central Saanich to explore a Level 3 fast charging station, potentially as a public amenity connected with new development.

By February 2018, Council had directed staff to look at a community-wide EV charging strategy, including charging infrastructure in new developments and incentives for retrofitting existing buildings. The District’s later EV and E-Bike Strategy records that direction. Central Saanich EV and E-Bike Strategy Central Saanich

Around that time, I was also pushing for EV-ready infrastructure in multi-unit buildings, an electric vehicle in the municipal fleet, and better public charging.

The work kept moving.

By 2019, Central Saanich had added electric vehicles to the municipal fleet, introduced Modo carsharing with an EV, and installed more charging infrastructure.

In 2020, Mayor Ryan Windsor, Councillor Chris Graham and I jointly brought forward a Notice of Motion called “Accelerating Transportation Electrification — A Select Committee for 2020.”

We proposed creating a short-term committee so that people from the community and people with expertise in electric vehicles could help shape the District’s emerging strategy.

That committee was established. The District later described the strategy as being developed in consultation with the EV and E-Bike Strategy Committee, made up of residents and people with expertise in the field. Central Saanich climate action page Let's Talk, Central Saanich

The strategy that emerged included more than 30 actions, including more public charging and EV-ready requirements for new construction. By the end of 2020, the District reported that those new-development charging requirements had already been adopted. Central Saanich 2020 Year in Review Central Saanich

This is another good example of how municipal concepts turn into reality. They start with an idea, other councillors eventually join the effort, residents and experts contribute and staff put together the detailed work. 

PNR article from 2018: https://peninsulanewsreview.com/2018/02/12/more-car-chargers-are-in-the-works-for-central-saanich/