COWICHAN SURVEY RESULTS RELEASED

New Citizens Group Charts Pathway

(Cowichan Valley, BC) A new citizens group in the Cowichan Valley has begun to chart its course through the release of results of a survey of local residents asking what they care about. Over 170 citizens gave their opinions on what is great about the Valley and what can be improved, with the results released today in a short report called A Cowichan Snapshot.

 “Citizens of our Valley are very passionate about balancing the conservation of what makes people want to live here – the natural surroundings, small town feel, and sense of community – with creating a fair local economy,” said Matt Price with One Cowichan. “There’s also a feeling, though, that more needs to be done to strike that balance.”

Issues that came up most needing attention in the survey were the need to get local control over our watershed so that it can be better managed, improving transit, encouraging more local value added economic activity and agriculture, improving local government planning and engagement with the public, and dealing with climate change. A better relationship between local First Nations and non-Native citizens also came up a lot.

Questions were also asked about how people felt about their elected representatives at all three levels – federal, provincial, and municipal. Compared to results outside of the Valley, Cowichan representatives did quite well.

“Based on the survey, we believe our next step is to mount a non-partisan push in the upcoming provincial election to convince candidates of all political stripes to support a giving real authority and resources to local management of our watershed,” said Parker Jefferson of One Cowichan. “We’ll be asking voters to pledge to support this position, and will send those pledges to the candidates.”

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The report is available here; for more information call Parker Jefferson at 250-710-9968