Trust in City Hall has been shaken by how decisions get made, not just what gets decided. Residents want to be part of the conversation before a direction is set, not brought in afterward to react to something already decided. Real transparency means showing your reasoning, sharing your information, and being willing to explain a decision even when it isn't popular.

The full list of commitments:

1. Apply International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) principles consistently and use a broader mix of engagement methods, including community roundtables, site visits, citizen panels and in-person meetings for complex or contentious issues.
2. Ensure that public engagement includes a diverse range of business owners, residents and other community members, including those who are not represented by formal organizations or advocacy groups.
3. Require clear "what we heard" reports that explain how public input affected the final recommendation, and, when it did not, why not.
4. Review the Delegation Bylaw and related land-use procedures so that decisions regarding land use changes receive appropriate public notice and Council oversight.
5. Improve transparency around closed meetings by strengthening reporting-out practices and making decisions, votes and supporting information public as soon as legally permitted.
6. Use independent engagement or review where public confidence is especially low, and publish measurable standards for the timeliness and quality of City services.
7. Refocus Council agendas on municipal responsibilities and complete important policies that have been repeatedly delayed.
8. Revise the Code of Conduct to provide the public with direct access to the process.

Public safety is one of the City's most basic jobs. Residents, workers and visitors should be able to walk our streets, use our parks and run their businesses without fear of violence, theft or persistent disorder, and people in crisis deserve real care, not neglect. Both things are possible at once, but only with proper funding, consistent enforcement, and a fair share of provincial supports spread across the whole region, not concentrated in one neighbourhood.

The full list of commitments:

1. Provide stable, adequate funding for VicPD, bylaw services, fire services and other frontline safety functions, with clear public reporting through those services on staffing, response times and outcomes.
2. Maintain visible foot patrols and coordinated police-bylaw presence in Downtown and neighbourhood areas experiencing persistent disorder.
3. Enforce bylaws fairly and consistently, including rules concerning parks, streets, obstruction, open drug use and unsafe conduct, while connecting vulnerable people with appropriate services.
4. Press the Province and Island Health for treatment on demand, detox, recovery-oriented and therapeutic options, complex-care housing, and effective mental-health crisis response.
5. Advocate for the distribution of shelters, supportive housing, treatment facilities and related services across the Province's seven health authorities.
6. Advocate for a triage model from the Province for those people in our communities who need housing, services and care.
7. Advocate for a full spectrum of housing and care, including a greater focus on transitional, recovery-oriented and complex-care models with appropriate placement, qualified staffing, safety standards and accountable operators.
8. Require meaningful neighbourhood consultation, operational plans, safety measures and transparent performance reporting if City land, funding, grants or tax exemptions support social-service or supportive-housing facilities.
9. Set measurable public-safety goals and report progress regularly, so residents can judge whether spending and programs are producing safer streets.
10. Support measures that specifically address and deter violence against on-duty firefighters and other first responders.
11. Ensure proactive, not reactive, mental health and PTSD support is available to firefighters and other first responders.

Victoria is one of the least affordable cities in Canada, even after two decades of near-constant construction downtown. More building alone hasn't solved affordability or liveability, so growth needs a smarter approach. Recent Council decisions, especially the new city-wide growth plan, set far more development capacity than the province actually requires, cancelled established neighbourhood plans, and weakened heritage protections, all with a rushed and incomplete public engagement process. Growth has to be planned around real neighbourhoods, not maximized everywhere at once, and it has to come with the parks, transit and services that make it liveable.

The full list of commitments:

1. Initiate an early public review of Victoria 2050 and its implementing bylaws, measuring development capacity against provincial requirements, updated population forecasts, infrastructure capacity, affordability and neighbourhood impacts.
2. Bring forward targeted OCP and zoning amendments where the evidence shows that density, height or delegated authority goes beyond what is required by provincial mandate or undermines liveability, heritage or infrastructure planning.
3. Restore stronger building setbacks in the OCP for development projects to better protect and preserve urban tree canopy and greenspaces across the city. A greener Victoria supports public health, strengthens climate resilience and delivers lasting environmental and economic benefits.
4. Re-establish neighbourhood-level planning through updated Local Area Plans or equivalent neighbourhood plans. Victoria is a City of Villages. A One City One Plan approach ignores and disrespects local context, character and knowledge.
5. Put property development applications that fully comply with a newly revised OCP, neighbourhood plans and heritage policies at the front of the line, providing applicants and the public with clear, predictable rules.
6. Direct growth to appropriate locations while supporting well-designed, ground-oriented housing that fits neighbourhood context.
7. Use municipal tools and advocate other levels of government to create co-op, non-market, attainable rental and affordable ownership housing, including partnerships on suitable public land.
8. Strengthen tenant protections and preserve existing lower-cost rental homes by updating housing-conversion policies and supporting gentle infill as an alternative to wholesale demolition and redevelopment (demovictions).
9. Link growth decisions to measurable standards for parks, tree canopy, schools, utilities, public realm, transportation and other community infrastructure.
10. Revise bylaws and policy that contradict and weaken the ability to meet Urban Forest targets.
11. Restore and strengthen heritage protections weakened through recent changes to the OCP, Downtown Core Area Plan, Local Area Plans and related bylaws.
12. Require independent Heritage Impact Assessments for proposals involving the demolition, substantial alteration or redevelopment of heritage properties.
13. Strengthen and proactively enforce heritage-property maintenance standards to prevent demolition by neglect.
14. Make adaptive reuse, sensitive additions and compatible infill the preferred alternatives to demolition and façadism.
15. Expand the Community Heritage Register and protect significant heritage districts through appropriate Heritage Conservation Areas, design guidelines, height limits and setbacks.
16. Continue funding heritage restoration, seismic upgrading and adaptive-reuse partnerships, with applications evaluated by qualified, arm's-length heritage experts.
17. Reinstate the requirements for expertise and minimum baseline qualifications for membership on the Heritage Advisory Panel.
18. Require all heritage incentives and Heritage Revitalization Agreements to deliver permanent protection and a clearly documented public benefit.
19. Require Council to provide public reasons whenever it departs from adopted heritage policies or independent expert recommendations.
20. Mandate that new multi-storey residential and commercial buildings include a minimum of two sets of fire escapes for safe emergency egress.
21. Support securing additional firefighting equipment capable of reaching upper floors as Victoria's high-rise buildings grow taller.

Residents and businesses are paying more in taxes without seeing matching improvements in safety, cleanliness or basic services. Every dollar the City collects should go toward something residents can see and measure, not open-ended spending with no way to check the results.

The full list of commitments:

1. Undertake a comprehensive service and program review of the entire budget using zero-based analysis, including discretionary initiatives, legacy grants, duplicate programs and work outside core municipal responsibilities.
2. Protect funding for core services, infrastructure maintenance and reserves before adding new programs or expanding discretionary commitments.
3. Publish clear multi-year forecasts showing the effect of deferred spending, reduced reserve contributions, debt, capital commitments and new operating programs on future taxes.
4. Set an annual tax target tied to inflation and essential service pressures, and require Council to explain publicly any proposed increase above that benchmark.
5. Prioritize work on aging roads, neglected sidewalks, sewers, facilities and other essential infrastructure through realistic asset-management and funding plans.
6. Strengthen independent review of major projects and initiatives, including public reporting on original budgets, changes in scope, final costs and achieved outcomes.
7. Review grants, tax exemptions and incentive programs on a regular schedule, with transparent eligibility rules and evidence of public benefit.
8. Reverse the increase in remuneration for the Mayor and Council for the new term and bring the amounts back in line with the recommendations outlined in the 2022 MNP Governance Review.
9. Limit increases in Mayor and Council remuneration to a transparent, independently reviewed formula in keeping with the recommendations outlined in the 2022 MNP Governance Review.

Getting around Victoria and running a business here should be easier, not harder. Walking, cycling, transit, driving and deliveries all need to work together as one network, and a healthy Downtown depends on safe streets, predictable rules and practical access for customers and workers alike.

The full list of commitments:

1. Require transportation projects to be supported by safety, traffic, accessibility, emergency-response and business-impact evidence, with before-and-after performance reporting.
2. Prioritize maintenance and safety improvements for roads, sidewalks, crossings, boulevards and cycling routes, including accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities.
3. Avoid transportation changes that substantially reduce access or road capacity without a practical network plan, meaningful consultation and credible alternatives. When emergency responders receive a call for service, their ability to navigate the city in a timely manner is the priority.
4. Advocate with BC Transit and senior governments for better frequency, reliability, regional connections and rapid-transit investment, while recognizing that the City cannot deliver transit service.
5. Develop a Strategic Economic Plan with short-, medium- and long-term targets to build a diverse, resilient and thriving local economy, revitalize Downtown, support existing businesses and attract new investment and employment.
6. Prioritize creation of a focused Downtown economic recovery plan with measurable targets for storefront vacancies, cleanliness, safety, investment and customer access.
7. Create regular, structured meetings between Council and local businesses, neighbourhood organizations and major employers to identify barriers and track solutions.
8. Simplify permits and approvals for small businesses and compliant development proposals, with published timelines and service standards.
9. Reinstate a culture of Customer Service at the City of Victoria: conduct a comprehensive review of City business processes to improve customer service, reduce unnecessary delays and duplication, and establish measurable service standards for permits, applications and responses to residents and businesses.
10. Use local procurement where lawful and cost-effective, and protect employment and industrial lands that are essential to Victoria's economic resilience.
11. Improve traffic design and coordination citywide to ensure quicker, more reliable emergency response times for fire, police and paramedic services.