In 2026, I am running to be your Saanich Rep as a School Board Trustee in SD61 (Greater Victoria).
October 7th, 13th, 14th & 17th
Music, Climate, Accountability. Open the books.
Click below to learn:
- MORE ABOUT ME (Trevor for Trusty Trustee)
- My POLICY PLATFORM
- My social media
- Sign up for updates
My campaign tagline is “Open The Books”
📖 literally
🧮 make the budget transparent
📚 vs📱
📰 fresh leadership to restore trust
#1 Priority is Music education programming
🎶 middle school year-long ensembles
🎤 jazz, choir, etc
🎻 strings in elementary
this all protects provincial funding locally in high schools 🎭 and community arts economic development
🚫 avoid exploratory-only
#2 priority is Climate action & leadership
🤓 leverage existing climate & energy science resources for the classroom
🌎 leverage existing professional network of local experts
🚌 work with municipalities on TDM & sustainability strategies
🏫 lean into the data for capital asset portfolio planning, environmental investments
My candidacy, aka “Trevor the Trusty Trustee”
⚽️ 3 kids in the system this term
✅ 15+ years living in Saanich & leading local societies, volunteering, boards, committees
👨🏫 professional government experience + chair of SCAN, President of NQ community association, treasurer of VCPAC (Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils).
🥎 little leagues, community coach, scouts, festivals, fundraising, music lesson teacher, etc.
Quick things - week of Sep 28
-
123s... 500 door knocks and counting (across 7 local area CA neighbourhoods so far)
- I'm attending the BroadView ACM event this week, Colin's Cafe candidate chats
- I will be playing my saxophone at major intersections, raising the issue of music funding!
- ABCs... Trevor Barry, Top of your Ballot
- On your Saanich Ballot, alphabetically I am listed 1st of the 4 total candidates for SD61 Trustee
What I'm hearing while I'm out canvassing:
- Folks are upset about all the overlapping politics and changes
- e.g. Provincial snap-election called by the Premier, distracting to local issues
- e.g. New voting system for Trustees that voters are unaware of
- e.g. Non-binding plebiscite question (instead of a referendum) that nobody is paying attention to
- Folks are nearly all unanimously:
- IN FAVOUR of the current music education program offerings (maintaining it);
- IN FAVOUR of continuing to offer a School Police Liaison Officer (SPLO) program (Saanich voters support Saanich Police) - and paid for by the police board budgets;
- IN FAVOUR of continuing to provide SOGI resources to educators, as they need it;
- IN FAVOUR of Budget Reform, i.e. providing the public with regular iterative spreadsheet versions and engagement on trade-off decisions (cost-benefit analysis)
(see my financial expertise background)
- The list above is in order of unanimity, whereas below is less overwhelming:
- IN FAVOUR of better coordination of efforts between Trustees, Councils, Libraries, Transit, CRD, MLAs and the Province.
- AGREEABLE TO reviewing the new voting system, and removing/readjusting the municipal wards system, e.g. back toward something more proportionate, and regardless: more fair for Saanich voters.
- AGREEABLE TO slowing down the IT budget, i.e. removing some technology from classrooms, specifically screen-time (distracting devices), in favour of "old school" tried tested and true learning approaches.
- OPEN TO CONSIDERING developing multi-jurisdictional partnership toward a new performance arts theatre and community centre space at Reynolds new "QMC".
- OPEN TO CONSIDERING my ideas for Climate Action initiatives - inside & outside the classroom. (see my POLICY PLATFORM Page)
Clickable Links:
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- MORE ABOUT ME (Trevor for Trusty Trustee)
- My POLICY PLATFORM
- My Facebook
Bluesky
Instagram
Threads
LinkedIn;
Google Drive
Back Story
(how did I end up on your ballot again?)
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, clean energy 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 enjoy the distinction of being a trustee with 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 altruistic/academic desire to improve society 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, not to mention 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 of Victoria 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 around 100,000. The same is true in Victoria. Meanwhile, 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!