A former general manager of Toronto’s water and wastewater utility wants to become the next Area A director for the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD).
Mike Price said he began mulling over the idea to run following current director Frank Mauro’s announcement he would not be seeking re-election. Mauro told Coast Reporter he was “pleased” when Price expressed interest in running and that he encouraged him to do so. “With his knowledge of our community and the area, and his experience in local government, he is a fine candidate to represent Pender Harbour and Egmont,” said Mauro in an email.
Price moved to Garden Bay four years ago after working in Ontario since the 1970s as a civil engineer and senior manager, including as Toronto’s water and wastewater utility manager. Before retiring from his role at the City of Toronto, he was the works commissioner and city manager for the City of Scarborough. “I am trained on the frontlines of handling municipal councils,” he told Coast Reporter.
Since moving to the Coast, Price has been a member of the Pender Harbour Rotary Club and just finished a year as president, and is a Pender Harbour Advisory Council director. This will be the first time Price runs for local office.
Price said he is not looking to push for any major changes in terms of the Chapman Lake drawdown project. “If you come up with a plan and you approve everything, unless something major happens, you should keep going,” he said. On the conservation side, Price said the SCRD “shouldn’t have started with water meters in the rural areas and left the two cities to the last.” The Town of Gibsons already has water meters installed, but a funding decision to install universal water meters in the District of Sechelt is pending.
He also said he was inspired by former federal NDP leader Jack Layton, who served as city councillor in Toronto during Price’s tenure. “He was always looking to get the opinion of people he represented,” Price said. “I believe politicians should be doing that, not just holding every three months a little coffee club meeting, but actually getting out and talking to groups.”
Price also belonged to the Milne Park Conservation Association, where he said he raised a quarter of a million dollars in grants and worked on various environmental projects in the community.
Road conditions, the Pender Harbour Dock Management Plan and derelict boats topped Price’s list of major concerns raised by residents in Area A. However, he acknowledged that as provincial and federal issues, the SCRD has little authority to make significant changes.
Other significant – and SCRD-relevant – issues he said he hears about from residents include the newly revised Official Community Plan for Pender Harbour, which he said did not get “true public consultation.” A public hearing is scheduled for early September before it goes back to the board for third reading and potential adoption.
He also said a lack of rental housing for young families and seniors is a major concern among residents, in addition to a lack of adequate pedestrian and cycle paths as well as local transportation such as taxis. “The only taxis you see are bringing the rich vacationers from Vancouver and elsewhere and driving them up here to dump them at some resort,” Price said about the lack of options. He said while public transportation would be nice, “the numbers probably wouldn’t justify shipping the bus up here.”
He also said he hopes to bring experience to a board that will see significant turnover, with at least four of the five rural directors not seeking re-election. “My concern was if you get a bunch of people on who aren’t used to municipal politics, it’s going to take them a long while to get up to speed,” he said. “If I do get on, at least I’ve got a good background.”
The local government elections will take place Oct. 20. The nomination period starts Sept. 4 and ends Sept. 14.
