A healthy community starts with healthy individuals and accessible services. Upgrading our roads and sidewalks is crucial to ensuring our community is pedestrian and stroller friendly. This means patching up potholes, fixing cracks, and installing adequate lighting to make our streets and sidewalks safer for everyone. This is also a great way to build a walkable community and reduce our carbon footprint. Expanding our bicycle lane network and bus routes are cost effective ways that I will advocate to keep our community sustainable, accessible and connected.
Quality housing that is accessible and affordable must be a priority for Esquimalt. Seniors should have the ability to age in place. We also must increase the number of day cares throughout our community to accommodate a growing number of young families. Adding play areas for toddlers in existing playgroups is one cost effective way to share our beautiful outdoor spaces with young families.
We have one of the best recreation centres in the region with programs ranging from Early Childhood to 50+ and I am committed to promoting healthy lifestyles by supporting our recreational services.
Community and safety go hand in hand and I am committed to work with our emergency services to provide the leadership, staff and equipment they need to keep our community safe and prepared for emergency situations.
I believe in environmental stewardship and I oppose the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project. At this time Esquimalt is not 
prepared financially or socially to deal with the costly aftermath of an oil spill. This would devastate our shoreline, pollute our environment and cost taxpayers a fortune to clean up. I am not prepared to make Esquimalt residents pay for something they did not signup for and for that reason I support Esquimalt council’s motion and UBCM’s resolution to ban the expansion of tanker traffic on our coast.
Sewage took central stage on Esquimalt Council in the last few years. Many Esquimalt residents opposed the plan proposed by the CRD for a secondary treatment in Viefield and McLachlan Point and it’s time to look at other alternatives. I support a feasibility study and economic analysis of tertiary treatment in cooperation with other municipalities. I support building a facility that is public, economical and serves the needs of our community.
Olga Liberchuk 