In 2026, I am running to be your Saanich Rep as a School Board Trustee in SD61.
Music, Climate, Accountability. Open the books.
Some of you know my back story. I ran for council four years ago. I came close, but didn't get elected. It was a difficult experience, and an inflection point in my life.
Since then I have made some changes in my life.
I left a 15-year career as a BC Public Servant, in order to strike a better work-life balance and spend more time with my kids (now including a new baby)*. I'm a sustainability consultant now, and teach private music lessons part-time (#SaxySaanich).
I also pivoted my significant volunteer work - migrating toward societies, board executives and committees closer to my kids: PACs, little league, VCPAC, coaching volleyball, guest lecturing in classrooms about climate change and carbon calculations.
I did not plan to run (for anything) again, at least not any time soon*. Although I still served our Saanich community through citizen advisory committees, Chair of SCAN, advocacy organisations, etc., (and you can learn more about my involvement with local groups at my TrevorBarry.ca website).
(*If you elect me, I will have the distinction of having kids in the system at all three levels across my term of office: elementary, middle & secondary!)
Then something interesting happened:
Just before Spring Break, I became aware that the School Board was planning to cut 20% from my kids' music program. (I said, "pardon!?"). I started attending information sessions, above-and-beyond (VC)PAC.
And for the first time in my political/advocacy life, I felt myself driven by a motivation affecting my own family directly. Not just an academic desire as an expert in public policy.
Furthermore, the presentation materials, public engagement & transparency behind this budgeting process -- something I was accustomed to observing at the city-level, but not the schools-level -- was incredibly underwhelming, let alone disappointing. I couldn't believe how opaque the process was (let alone basic and shallow). And this is for a local budget roughly equal in size to Saanich municipality, or the City for that matter.
So I got involved.
Before long, I became the media spokesperson for middle school music parents: demanding to know why this was being thrown at us last-minute, and without any explanation. It didn't help that there was no democratically-accountable trustee serving at the time.
And that's when I became (by many of you!) encouraged to consider running for Trustee, in the newly drawn electoral area of Saanich**, for our Greater Victoria School District 61.
Congratulations! I am convinced!
And now I am asking for your help to convince thousands of others to lend me their support and their votes when they cast their ballots this October 17th.
**Yes, that is correct. This year's election is different. Saanich voters who live in SD61 will vote for up to TWO (2) representatives to serve on the school board as Trustees. Two: for a population approaching 100,000. The same is true in Victoria. Although, little old Oak Bay, and Esquimalt, with their tiny populations, get one seat each. This new system is problematic. More on that in my Policy Platform. along with Climate, Music, AI/tech, and more!