Born and raised on Vancouver Island, B.C. Green candidate Erin Cassels developed an interest in environmental sustainability when she was young.
“I can't imagine anyone growing up here and not being a lover of the environment and the earth and the forests and wanting to protect those resources.” she said. “It just comes naturally.”
Years later, that love became a fundamental part of her career.
The Langford resident has been the general manager of the Huntingdon Hotel and Suites in Victoria since 2014. During that time, she reshaped the establishment's business model into one focused on social and environmental impacts, not just profits. She also helped create Destination Greater Victoria's sustainability advisory committee and the Hotel Association of Greater Victoria’s sustainability committee.
Drawing from her business and sustainability experience, Cassels said she wants to promote a balanced approach to economic development provincially – one that will help people get ahead but that also takes into consideration the long-term well-being of the environment.
Locally, she added that she wants to help address the lack of public transportation available to Langford-Highlands residents.
"Nobody wants to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic,” she said, referencing the infamous Colwood crawl. “We really have to ... ensure that the infrastructure supports the growing population out there because it hasn’t so far.”
B.C. Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau announced on Sept. 5 that the party would support free transit B.C.-wide, with expanded routes, more buses and improved hours. Cassels said this could reduce the region’s transportation woes.
The candidate also sits on Destination Greater Victoria’s transportation and destination management committee, which recommends solutions to transportation issues in Greater Victoria.
“We work really closely with BC Transit,” said Cassels, who added that she is well-positioned to advocate provincially for the transit needs of residents. “I was just in one of their presentations last week about how to make the connectivity a little better between Langford-Highlands, Victoria and all these sub-communities.”
According to Cassels, Langford-Highlands residents are also concerned about the cost of housing.
“[The cost of housing is] definitely not viable for a lot of people, especially for families with the cost of groceries going up,” she said, adding that she is in favour of increasing the supply of cooperative and missing-middle housing, as well as capping rent increases and eliminating real estate speculation, to help mitigate the problem.
Ultimately, it is Cassels’ passion for sustainability that led to her running for the B.C. Green Party, where she hopes to make a lasting, positive impact on the environment – one weighty enough to benefit future generations.
“I just want to be part of that positive change as much as I can so that I can say I did everything I could,” she said, adding that she wants to leave the world a better place for her three young children. "What is life going to look like for my three-year-old daughter when she's my age? What kind of world is she going to be living in?"
