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Mischa Oak

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Section 1   (Motive, personal interests and potential conflicts of interest.)

Please tell us why you are running? What community clubs or organizations do you belong to/ or support? How have you been involved in the community? Do you think any of these could put you in a conflict of interest position and how will you handle it? 

 

Response:

I'm running because I'm committed to protecting the village character that makes Qualicum Beach so special, while making sure the decisions behind it actually serve the people who live here. I've lived right here in town for six and a half years, and in the region for ten. I moved here as a local high school teacher and have since gone on to run two successful businesses. I don't want to change this town, I want to help it work better for the people in it. I know it well: its volunteers, its depth of local wisdom, and its commitment to preserving the charm of a small village surrounded by precious nature. I see a real need for smarter, longer-term planning, so we're actually stewarding that fragile balance instead of putting off hard issues that could put what makes this place special at risk. That means choices that include everyone: seniors on fixed incomes, families, workers, and local businesses who too often face barriers and too little support from the Town they help sustain.

My entire career has been about making institutions more responsive and caring by design. That's not a campaign promise. It's my track record: first as a local teacher, and now running two successful businesses of my own. This past year, that same work led me to become a national bestselling author, writing about fostering understanding across differences and treating diversity and community harmony as a source of strength that benefits everyone. That's the heart of my campaign: protect what we love, improve how it works.

I'm also an active local volunteer, and working directly with this community has taught me more about it than almost anything else could. Until this spring, I served as Board Member and Chair of Fundraising at The Old School House Arts Centre (TOSH), part of the team that helped restore the organization's financial health, expand programming, and bring back live music, work that required balancing community building with real accountability and long-term planning, exactly the skills I want to bring to Council. I also volunteer to bring together local 2SLGBTQ+ community members of all ages, seniors, families, and working-age people, to build understanding and a genuine sense of belonging in a community that hasn't always been welcoming to everyone. I believe that connecting people across all walks of life is what makes a community strong, and it's the same approach I'd bring to Council.

I stepped down from the TOSH board this spring specifically to avoid any conflict of interest with my run for Town Council, and I've spent the time since knocking on doors and meeting as many neighbours as possible to understand what people actually need. I will recuse myself from any Council decision that would directly benefit my vacation rental business, though I plan to be a vocal advocate for local businesses, tourism operators, and contributors to arts and culture, all of whom help make this small community so vibrant and connected.

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Section 2 (Skill set and preparedness)

What specific experience/skills do you bring to the role? How have you prepared yourself for the role so that you can be effective from day one?

How much time do you expect to devote to the role? If you are juggling family or job commitments how will you manage those obligations?

 

Response:

 I bring a mix of experience Town Council needs: business ownership, financial and decision-making oversight, and a career built on turning institutions in a more responsive, equitable direction. My Commerce degree from Queen's University, years working in and understanding business, and years working in education, with governments and public service providers, and on boards, give me both a financial foundation and a lens for inclusive governance, the kind of thinking that helps a Council serve seniors, families, and small business owners alike, not just the loudest voices in the room. Running two companies over the past several years, one in local tourism and one advising and training governments and public institutions on better service, communication and decision-making, has taught me how to manage budgets, assess risk, research, find and champion innovative solutions, negotiate, and get complex projects across the finish line.

I've prepared deliberately by attending Council meetings regularly. As far as I've seen, I'm the only candidate who has been sitting in on Council meetings steadily for the past year, which has taught me a great deal about the dynamics between Council and staff, and where meetings themselves could run more effectively and meaningfully. My research and problem-solving background has proven useful for working through the dense reports, lengthy agendas, and background documents behind most Town decisions. I'm ready to hit the ground running: I'm already closely connected to, and informed about, what's happening at Town Hall.

I've also spent months going door to door across Qualicum Beach's neighbourhoods, listening directly to residents about what matters to them, grounding my priorities in what people are actually telling me rather than what I assume they want.

I'm prepared to treat this as a near full-time commitment. As a business owner, I already have the flexibility to restructure my schedule, and once elected, I plan to bring on an assistant to manage the day-to-day work of my companies that I won't have time for while serving as your committed Town Councillor. That way, residents get my full attention, without my businesses losing the support they need either.
 

Section 3   (Financial acumen )

Do you feel you currently have sufficient financial understanding to provide meaningful input and assessment in the town's approximate $40 million dollar annual budget? If elected, what steps would you take to put the town in a firmer financial footing? What specific municipal spending areas would you reduce, maintain or increase? If the town received a $1 million dollar grant (without matching funds required) to use in any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

 

Response:

Yes. I hold a Commerce degree from Queen's University, I've managed budgets and cash flow for two successful companies of my own for years, and as a board member and Chair of Fundraising at The Old School House Arts Centre, I helped bring that organization's finances back to health, real experience reading balance sheets and asking hard questions about where money is going. A municipal budget carries its own complexity: reserve funds, capital planning, grant cycles, so I'm committed to keep learning and, where needed, bring in independent financial expertise, and there's no shortage of it in this community, so Council's decisions rest on a complete, accurate picture rather than assumptions.

My first step would be a complete, independent review of Town expenditures and reserves tied up in the Eaglecrest project, so Council and residents have an honest, current picture of where we actually stand. From there, I'd push for a long-term infrastructure asset management plan, because our community's long-term planning on infrastructure assets is lacking right now, and that's a real risk. Other municipalities are already ahead of us here, which means we're missing out on provincial and federal grants and making decisions without knowing what's coming down the road. I'd also open the Town's procurement to a genuine RFP process, drawing on a real pool of local suppliers instead of repeat, single-source arrangements.

On spending specifically: I'd reduce the Town's reliance on outside consultants, currently running over $2 million a year, along with excess management layers that run well above what comparable municipalities spend, and redirect those dollars to the frontline staff who respond to residents directly and get things done. I'd maintain funding for core protective services like fire and bylaw enforcement, and for the parks, culture, and recreation infrastructure that makes this town worth living in. And I'd increase investment in long-term infrastructure planning and in the partnership work needed to bring healthcare access and attainable housing forward, the kind of spending that prevents far bigger costs down the road.

If the Town received a million-dollar grant with no strings attached, I'd put it toward getting a walk-in clinic and an expanded LifeLabs off the ground. Healthcare access is the most common concern I hear at the door, and it's exactly the kind of pressing, practical problem where a targeted investment now can make a real, immediate difference for families and seniors alike. Next on my list would be kickstarting a real vision for the Qualicum Commons site. That land has sat crumbling and underused for far too long, when it has the potential to become the true heart of our community: park space, services for seniors and families, like an expanded seniors centre, and even a site for cottage cluster rental housing to help meet that same need. A vision like that would attract funding and cooperation from all levels of government. It's time we stopped letting that opportunity slip by and got to work on a plan everyone can get behind.
 

Section 4 ( Transparency)

In the past term we have seen many significant initiatives that were never on the town's 5 year strategic plan, all proceeding to fruition behind closed door meetings. Examples include the introduction of a tree protection bylaw, the renewal of the skateboard park, the commons proposal, the acquisition strategy of Eaglecrest, and donation to the hospital foundation. All significant events/expenses that came out of the blue and did not receive an opportunity for the public to hear council openly debate in public the costs, or where the project should be placed in terms of the town's priorities. What is your opinion and what would you change with respect to the process of new projects proceeding in closed meetings without debate in public view? When do you think the town should report to the public on decisions made in closed meetings?

 

Response:

This past Council relied on secret in-camera meetings far too often, and too many significant decisions moved forward without the public getting to hear Council debate the costs or where each project should sit among the Town's priorities. I'd change that starting with the basic structure of these sessions: only the specific portion of a meeting that genuinely requires confidentiality, a legal matter, a land negotiation, a personnel issue, should go behind closed doors, not the whole meeting by default. And whenever that happens, Council should "rise and report" immediately afterward: what was discussed in general terms, and what was decided, rather than that information surfacing buried in minutes months later.

Beyond that, there's more we can do to make open meetings genuinely open. I'd increase opportunities for public input before decisions are made, not reduce them as happened this term, and make sure every piece of correspondence residents send to Council actually reaches every councillor unfiltered. I'd move high-interest items earlier in the agenda instead of leaving them for hour three or four, when most people have already given up and left or logged off. I'd cut back on the dense jargon and complicated processes that leave ordinary residents shut out of decisions that affect them directly.

Finally, we rely too heavily on a complicated website and vague email addresses in a community where many seniors and other residents aren't online. Everyone deserves the same ability to raise a concern or ask a question. Good governance means designing processes so no one gets left behind.
 

Section 5 ( Firesmart)

In your opinion, is the town providing sufficient resource allocation and direction with respect to firesmart activities on municipally owned land?

 

Response: 

 No, not yet. Qualicum Beach adopted a Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan in June 2024, funded largely by a one-time provincial grant, a good, necessary first step. But it is my best understanding that the Urban Forest Master Plan, along with the Fire Department Strategic Plan and the Park Inventory Prioritization Plan, were all pushed back, specifically to free up staff capacity and funding for the Eaglecrest Golf Course purchase and project. To me, based on these deferred priorities, it appears that when it came down to a choice, this Council prioritized buying and renovating a golf course over the full planning work that keeps our fire department and our forests cared for. That's exactly the kind of decision-making I want to change.

The Heritage Forest is a good example of what this can look like done well: it's thriving and safer because it's actively managed, in that case through a partnership between the Town and the Brown Property Preservation Society. We need a similarly comprehensive plan across the rest of our public forests, and with as many volunteers and experts as we have in this community, we should be putting that goodwill to work rather than leaving it on the table.

Another barrier is the current Tree Protection Bylaw, which unfairly stops homeowners from dealing with fire-risk trees close to their own homes. That's not protecting anyone, it's just adding risk. We can protect our tree canopy and let people clear trees near their homes at the same time; those two goals aren't in conflict.

This ties directly into the long-term infrastructure and emergency planning I've talked about throughout this campaign: wildfire risk on Vancouver Island isn't a someday problem, and it shouldn't be treated as one in our budget. We need an updated emergency preparedness and evacuation plan -- there are currently people in our community, those specifically with mobility issues or living in care facilities without their own vehicles, left wondering, if something is going wrong, how will I get out of here?

 

Section 6 (Public consultation and open dialogue with the public)

Would you be supportive of returning the availability of public feedback during council meetings, prior to decisions being made for items on council agendas? What are your thoughts on how letters to council from the public are currently handled and would you support posting letters received on the town's website?

 

Response: 

 Yes, I'd support bringing back the opportunity for the public to speak directly to Council on agenda items before decisions are made. Removing that this term made it harder for residents to be heard at the exact moment their input could still shape the outcome, and that's exactly backward. Good governance means giving people a chance to weigh in before a decision is finalized, not just a chance to react to it after the fact.

On correspondence, my understanding is that letters to Council aren't always reaching every councillor, and residents have no real way of knowing whether their letter was read in full, summarized, or set aside. That needs to change. I'd support posting letters received by Council on the Town's website, with routine, common-sense redactions for personal contact information, so residents can see for themselves what's being raised and how Council is responding to it. Transparency here isn't just about optics, it builds trust that decisions are actually informed by what people are telling us.
 

 

Section 7 (Discretionary community funding)

The town currently provides support by way of operating cash, fee for service agreements,below market rents, property tax exemptions and other incentives to the nonprofit sector. These include arts and culture,sports related, economic, tourism and environmentally focused groups. Do you think the current level of support is fairly distributed? Is it sufficient? Is it transparent? How do you see the town arriving at a predetermined quantifiable overall amount and achieving greater fairness in the distribution of the discretionary support funded by taxpayers?

 

Response:

​No, I don't think the current level of support is fairly distributed, and I don't think we're getting good value for taxpayers on how it's managed today. My first move would actually be upstream of this issue altogether: cut the money we're sending outside our community on excessive consulting contracts, and redirect it toward local hiring and local organizations instead. When we fund operations locally, we support a thriving local economy, not consultants based somewhere else.

The current process isn't transparent in any meaningful sense either, it's ad hoc and political. For example, I watched this past Council waste almost an hour debating whether or not to give the Christmas Market $500. That's not a good use of anyone's time, Council's or the public's.

Instead, I'd prioritize organizations providing real service and economic benefit to the community with sustainable, predictable multi-year funding, so they aren't clogging up Council meetings asking for money every year. On sufficiency and setting an overall number: Council should set a clear, predetermined annual community funding envelope as part of the budget process, sized against a fixed share of the tax base rather than decided project by project, so we can actually measure whether support is sufficient against a real number instead of guessing. For the broader discretionary portion beyond that priority tier, I'd look at enlisting the Parksville-Qualicum Community Foundation to distribute and manage grant funds on the Town's behalf. They carry lower overhead than the Town does, and they're closer to community needs and grant administration day to day. Council should still be able to direct funding toward specific priorities when needed, but routine grant requests shouldn't turn into a political debate every single time. We need a process that actually gets things done.

Two more pieces I'd change, both about taxpayers unfairly subsidizing something they shouldn't have to. First, permissive property tax exemptions for places of worship: some are sitting on large, unused lots and paying no property tax on the portions that are vacant land. I'll push to change the permissive exemption so places of worship need to put unused, usable land toward attainable or affordable housing to keep that tax break. This will hopefully add real housing stock that fits our community in the process. Empty land doesn't deserve a free ride in this economy. Second, our airport: I completely support having an airport in our community, but right now residents are unfairly subsidizing out-of-town pilots who land and train over our neighbourhoods for free, with no real accounting of who's using it or what it actually costs to run. I'd bring in real usage tracking and landing fees sized to cover those costs, so the people using the airport are the ones paying for it, not residents who never set foot on the runway.

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Section 8 (Development)

What are your views on the need for development within Qualicum Beach over the next 10 years? How can the town balance the need for growth with the desire to protect the community character? What type of development do you believe the community most needs now and why?

 

Response: 

 Growth happens. We can either do it thoughtfully, with Qualicum Beach-style village planning, or put our head in the sand. A head-in-the-sand strategy doesn't stop development, it just sets the stage for urban sprawl and gives developers more room to build higher and push past our current setbacks in residential neighbourhoods, because Council never put clear enough rules, and small-town solutions that actually fit here, in place to begin with. The right approach is to plan deliberately, with our own design standards driving what gets built, rather than reacting project by project.

The way to balance growth with community character is to be intentional about where density goes. People renting or buying condos generally want to live close to the village, within walking distance of cafes, groceries, the Farmers Market, and recreation, not spread out through established residential neighbourhoods. I see the downtown village core and East Village as the right places for that kind of living. It's good for local business, it actually eases parking pressure because more residents are already downtown instead of driving in, and it creates a place that stays alive after five o'clock instead of rolling up the sidewalks.

No one wants cheap, big, boxy-looking buildings filling our skyline though. To maintain our small-town look and feel through any growth, I'd rewrite our zoning and development permit guidelines so new construction actually reflects Qualicum Beach's character, in the core and in residential neighbourhoods alike: real setbacks, sidewalk space, height limits, protected view corridors, sunlight access, and heritage features like shingles, peaks, undulating facades, and charming colours. Specifically, I'd seek to cap downtown at five storeys, with less use of modern concrete finishing, with strong setbacks and real room for street trees and pedestrians. In residential neighbourhoods, I think it makes most sense to cap at three storeys, favouring housing that actually fits: patio homes, cottage clusters, secondary suites, carriage homes, and townhomes, over larger multi-unit buildings that don't match the surrounding streets.

The development we most need right now is housing for seniors who want to stay in this community as they age: long-term care facilities and rental options that let people downsize without leaving the town they live in and love. Those care facilities belong close to downtown, not crammed into residential neighbourhoods, for the same reasons as everything above: it reduces isolation, cuts down on unnecessary car use, and supports the local economy and quality of life. When we create the right kind of places for seniors to downsize into, we free up single-family homes and suites for the families and workers who are desperately looking for somewhere to live here. It's also clear from what I'm hearing that this community wants two- and three-bedroom rental options: space for guests, a home office, or an extra bedroom for kids, plus storage for things like bikes and paddleboards. Our design guidelines should reflect those needs too.

I would also like to add that I think that as care facilities move into our community, Council must use every mechanism possible to ensure that spaces built here are making it to people who already live here, which involves ensuring pricing is attainable rather than exclusively luxury (i.e. $10,000-$15,000/month). Most people living here can't afford those rates; that's not right.
 

Section 9 (Eaglecrest development going forward)

If the revenue from the planned sale of Eaglecrest lands does not meet the  current budget expectations of $21,199,800, What would your plan B look like? What options would you request staff to explore such as using long term debt, or upzoning further other Eaglecrest lands?  Before executing a long term lease at the  Eaglecrest Golf Course, would you pursue an analysis of the expected financial impact the now revamped Eaglecrest Golf Course  will have on the cash flow of the existing town owned Memorial Golf Course and its ability to repay its current loans to the town? 

 

Response:

If land sale revenue doesn't hit the $21,199,800 the current budget assumes, my Plan B starts with a full independent financial review I've already called for: a complete, honest look at where the Eaglecrest project actually stands before Council locks in any further commitments. Based on recent reports, it looks like residents haven't been given the full picture. We need to understand what's happened, what Town priorities have been delayed, deferred, and which reserves money was already taken from. We also need to learn from the Town's rushed and too-expensive purchase to make sure we don't make mistakes like this again. From there, I'd want staff to model realistic scenarios at different shortfall levels, not just hope the market recovers, so decisions are based on numbers, not optimism.

On the specific options: yes, I'd ask staff to explore medium-term debt tied directly to the Eaglecrest land sales themselves, rather than continuing to drain other Town reserves or deferring priorities like funds that were supposed to go towards affordable housing and the Seniors Activity Centre expansion to cover the gap. I'd want a much more cautious view on further upzoning. Piling more density onto Eaglecrest to chase revenue risks urban sprawl, infrastructure that hasn't kept pace, and repeating the same mistake that got us here: promising residents one thing and then changing it under financial pressure. Any additional density should come with a clear, published rationale, and pay directly into attainable housing and community infrastructure. A town is more than its golf courses and it's time that decision-making reflects that. I think it's particularly telling that this community faced a crisis over losing the essential services housed in the Qualicum Commons, with no real plan in place, while Council kept barrelling ahead on Eaglecrest. We can do better: we need to actually consider community services, families, and the real needs of seniors in all planning decisions.

The new Eaglecrest Golf Course plan doesn't even have a viable business plan behind it. Maintenance alone is already costing taxpayers over $1,000 a day, and the course isn't even open yet. Before signing any long-term lease, I would insist on a full business plan developed with people who actually understand golf course operations, including a clear-eyed look at whether we should lease or sell the course to a reputable operator, paired with a covenant protecting greenspace land from future development. That business plan also needs to include a financial impact analysis of how a revamped Eaglecrest course would affect Memorial Golf Course's cash flow and its ability to keep repaying its existing loans to the Town. We can't solve one financial problem at Eaglecrest by quietly creating a new one at Memorial. That analysis should happen before any lease is signed, not after, and the results should be made public so residents can see the full picture.

 

Section 10  ( Governance) 

The town currently has 8 committees, commissions and boards set up to advise council.These committees not only use council time and staff resources, but presumably reflect councils priorities. If elected  would you continue with these same entities or are there other more critical issues that you would encourage council to pursue via new committees? 

 

Response:

Most of the Town's eight committees, the Accessibility Advisory Team, the Advisory Planning Commission, the Board of Variance, the Heritage Forest Commission, and the Select Committee on Environment and Sustainability, do real, valuable work, and I'd keep them in place. The Heritage Forest Commission in particular is a good model of what active, well-supported stewardship looks like. The Select Committee on Environment and Sustainability's recommendations, though, seem to be regularly ignored once they reach Council, and that needs to change: I'd want a clearer, more structured process for actually incorporating their recommendations, prioritized by impact and tied to spending money more wisely, rather than a committee that puts in real work only to have it shelved. I'd also take a closer look at the Beach Day Committee and the Family Day Celebration Committee: both serve the community well, but there may be an opportunity to combine event-focused committees like these into a single community events committee, so we're not asking volunteers and staff to support two nearly identical structures when one well-resourced one could do the job.

Beyond that, yes, there are more critical issues I'd want Council to pursue through new structures. I've already called for an emergency committee of financial and business experts to review the Eaglecrest project specifically. Depending on what we find, we may want to formalize that into a standing Finance and Audit Committee, bringing outside financial expertise to bear on the Town's budget and major spending decisions year-round, not just when a crisis forces the issue. I'd also want a dedicated Housing Task Force, since housing is too urgent and too complex to be handled off the side of Council's desk. That task force would explore regional cooperation with Parksville toward a shared regional housing authority, pursue provincial and federal funding more aggressively, and look for small-town solutions that actually fit here, working with partners like Kiwanis and local places of worship sitting on unused land suited to cottage clusters or similar housing. It would also assess specific underused sites, the Old Firehall, the land at the back of the Qualicum Commons property, and potentially even the federally owned post office corner lot, as potential locations to get real, attainable rental housing for seniors and families built that still suits the character of our community.

I'd also push for a regional healthcare recruitment strategy, approaching the City of Parksville and the Regional District of Nanaimo, and working directly with provincial and regional health authorities, with clear goals: attracting a walk-in clinic and an expanded LifeLabs to our community. Healthcare access touches everyone here, and it's exactly the kind of problem no single small municipality can solve on its own.
VOTEOAK.CA
voteoak@gmail.com

 

 

Section 11 ( Specific to Mayoral candidates only)

Historically the role of Mayor includes acting as a director in the RDN. What specific actions will you undertake to ensure Qualicum Beach residents are made aware of the RDN issues that affect them? How will you engage with Qualicum Beach residents to ensure your vote is in line with their preferences? RDN taxation will soon exceed the municipal portion of our overall property taxes. What RDN services and costs should be reviewed on a  value for money basis, as it applies to Qualicum Beach residents?

 

Response:

 

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