My interest in local food goes back to my early years on Council. I supported community garden initiatives and a local fruit-harvesting group whose volunteers picked surplus fruit from people’s yards so it could be put to use rather than wasted.

In 2026, I brought forward a motion to connect the Keating redevelopment process with a possible food hub that could provide processing, storage and other practical infrastructure for local producers.

The common thread for me is that protecting farmland is not enough by itself. If we want farming to remain viable in Central Saanich, we also have to support the people, organizations and infrastructure that allow food to be grown, processed, stored and sold here.

We also need to get fully behind the Peninsula and Area Agricultural Commission.

PAAC exists to advise Central Saanich and other municipalities on agricultural matters and to help advance the Saanich Peninsula Agricultural Strategy. Its objectives include improving farm economics, supporting farmland stewardship, strengthening the agricultural land base and building public support for farming. Central Saanich

Our own Official Community Plan, on page 38, says Central Saanich should “continue to support and seek input from” PAAC on farm-related matters. Central Saanich

Yet in recent years Council has spent time considering whether Central Saanich should withdraw from PAAC and, as recently as 2026, questions remained about how the commission would be supported. Central Saanich

I have tried to prevent PAAC from being held back. I think the next Council should remove the barriers, provide the support it needs, and enthusiastically support a strong and active PAAC.

Protecting agricultural land is important. So is making sure the people who actually know farming have a strong voice in the decisions that affect it.