This story is one of several profiles on Victoria-Beacon Hill candidates running in the upcoming provincial election.
Seeing it as a privilege to knock on her constituents' doors, listen to them and ask what they need from the government, Grace Lore is eyeing re-election with the goal of building on local investments made during her first term in office.
The incumbent Victoria-Beacon Hill MLA called the job she's held for the last four years an honour and a gift.
But the NDP candidate said her government's work to bring empty homes and short-term rental units back into the long-term rental market, support 2SLGBTQ families and youth and address the climate crisis is at risk this election.
"All of that feels at stake with the Conservatives," she said. "In addition to wanting to push forward with and for my community, I want to make sure we are not stepping back."
Knowing housing is a top concern for her riding, Lore said the government has lots more to do. But she's proud of local investments into affordable housing projects in James Bay and Fernwood and into a rental protection fund that just acquired two Victoria properties to keep rent affordable for 68 households.
Lore said the situation on Pandora Avenue isn't working for anyone and the province intends to get people off the streets by creating even more complex-care and supportive housing units.
She also pointed to homelessness supports such as the 70 new and mostly 24/7 shelter beds just announced for Victoria. The MLA touted how the province is funding renovations to the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Centre that will increase capacity and will allow women to access those services.
"That's something I fought hard for. The work that happens there for the people who are accessing treatment and recovery is absolutely transformative," Lore said.
The minister of children and family development, who is also a mom of two, is proud to have been at the riding's helm as many $10-a-day childcare spaces opened locally, such as at community centres in Fernwood and Fairfield.
While the health-care system has been strained by the pandemic's impacts and a rising population, the New Democrat credited her government with adding 800 family doctors since it enacted a new payment model last year.
“We’re starting to see that needle shift,” she said, noting the province is also working to expedite the recognition of foreign trained doctors and is allowing pharmacists and nurse practitioners deliver more services.
Lore's previous work supporting survivors of violence and sexual assault helped push her into politics. She highlighted her party's investments in the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre and into the Cridge Centre so it can provide transitional housing for women and kids who have experienced family violence.
"I want to make sure that we're protecting the investments we've made and making sure that more families can access $10-a-day care, that more families are able to get the housing they need, that survivors continue to be able to access the services they need," she said. "These are the pieces that are important to me as we head toward the election."
"I love this community, I'm grateful to represent it and I want to keep going."
