Regarding the Water Capacity Crisis

In March 2026, Regional Council directed staff to retain an independent third party to review the circumstances that led to the water capacity crisis. The original motion required the report within six months, which would have put the deadline around now. Council amended that timeline to allow the review to take up to 12 months, so the final report may not come back until March 2027.

While the motion requires the report to come back to Council, it does not explicitly state that it will be made public. Given that transparency and restoring public confidence were among the stated purposes of the review, I think Council should remove any ambiguity about that.

The longer timeline also means that the report may not be available before the October 26 election. We could therefore be asked to choose the next Council without first seeing the conclusions of the review.

Understanding how our water system works, in my view, is a non-negotiable part of serving as a councillor. If elected, I will bring a motion at the earliest opportunity making clear that the independent report should be made public. At the same time, I will ask staff to update Council in open session on the progress of the review and the anticipated date of its completion.

More broadly, the water capacity crisis has exposed the vulnerability of one of our most critical systems. It raises a larger question: have we allowed growth to outpace some of the infrastructure and services we depend upon? That's why one of my campaign priorities is to Secure the Future: “The water crisis should concern every one of us. It raises a hard question: has growth outpaced the systems we depend on? And if our water system is under strain, where else might we be vulnerable? We must to assess our critical infrastructure now, identify the risks, and make a clear plan to address them. Residents deserve to see the evidence, understand the decisions, and know whether we’re making progress.”