Mayor Lisa Helps: The Face of a New Victoria

The mayor of Victoria, British Columbia, is required to take an oath of allegiance to the Queen in order to be sworn in. When 2006 Foundation scholar Lisa Help declined to take the oath in 2014, claiming it failed to mention the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, a wind of change blew onto Canada’s most royalist city. In a Globe and Mail article published on 13 April 2018, Mayor Helps’s accomplishments are weighed against her challenges as she prepares to run for a second four-year term. From bike lanes to affordable housing projects, Helps’s decisions have aimed for long-term rather than short-term impact, inevitably irking parts of the provincial capital’s electorate. Whether or not she is reelected as Victoria’s mayor, writes the author, Helps’s progressive leadership and strong community building initiatives will leave a lasting imprint on the city.

Lisa Helps is a 2006 Foundation scholar and the mayor of Victoria. Read the article here.