When a heart attack sidelined Nathan McKeown's professional career two years ago, he began looking for new ways to get involved in the community and when the opportunity to run for council presented itself, he jumped at it.
"I'm looking for something more community focused," said McKeown, who studied business and later received a graduate degree in project management from Royal Roads University. He arrived in Sooke 40 years ago at the age of 10. Since then he's built a career in construction and project management and raised a family in the gateway to the West Coast.
"I spent a long time feeling the benefits of other people – the elderly in the community giving back to us, and I think now it's my time to give back to the community that supported me so much in the past."
Like many, McKeown is concerned about traffic congestion and rising taxes.
"I have residents coming at me and they're really concerned that this is not going to stop or that there will be no relief in the future," said McKeown. "I understand the town is strained by the needs of infrastructure, development, policing costs, fire and other services, but I think it comes as a shock for people on fixed income or even modest income."
McKeown knows costs are rising and wants residents to see more value for their money. He hopes that as a councillor he could help provide improved transparency and communication to residents on fiscal policy.
He'd also like for the district to collaborate further with organizations such as the province, the Capital Regional District (CRD) and First Nations communities in a collaborative approach to management and growth.
A issue McKeown feels is not getting enough attention is local economic development. As a long time resident he remembers the days when most Sookies worked in resource extraction industries, but now people are leaving the community to find work.
"I would like to see a study identifying the highly skilled professionals and trades workers that are leaving this community for employment, if we can identify those sectors and encourage those types of businesses to set up in Sooke – people will be happier working in this community, we can reduce congestion and honestly it would make for a better community on the whole," said McKeown.
He knows Sooke will continue to grow, but McKeown would like to see that growth managed more sustainably to preserve the town's unique character and identity.
Sooke's proximity to nature and McKeown's own love for the outdoors has kept him in the community for decades. He's a fisherman, a hiker, a biker and was once an avid surfer – but said his knee "doesn't really allow that anymore."
After a long career that involved a lot of travel he was always relieved to come home.
"We're so lucky and I feel like we take it for granted a lot of times."
He said Sooke residents should vote for him because he's invested in the town.
"I'm looking to grow old in this community, and I want it to be a good vibrant community for everybody that lives here," he added. "Right now I feel the community is very strained from unchecked growth, and I think we really need to get a handle on it because there's a real turning point and we need to decide the future of our town moving forward."
