Lisa Helps

Her Worship
Lisa Helps
Mayor of Victoria, British Columbia
Assumed office
December 4, 2014
Preceded by Dean Fortin
Personal details
Born 1975/1976 (age 41–42)[1]
Nationality Canadian
Website http://www.lisahelpsvictoria.ca/

Lisa Helps is a Canadian politician, the current mayor of Victoria, British Columbia,[2] with her inauguration taking place on December 4, 2014.[3] She narrowly defeated incumbent mayor Dean Fortin in the 2014 municipal election.[4] She is the second woman, after Gretchen Brewin, to be elected mayor of the city.[5]

Career

Helps was first elected to Victoria City Council as a city councillor in the 2011 municipal election.[6] She has also worked as a community organizer and activist,[7] including time in the role of executive director of a community microlending program.[6] Her mayoral campaign revolved heavily around a proposal to launch a more ambitious plan to deal with the issues of homelessness and affordable housing in the city[4] and was also boosted by voter frustration over delays in the Johnson Street Bridge construction project[4] and a controversial sewage treatment plan that has been a dominant issue in the city's municipal politics for several years.[7]

At her inauguration ceremony as mayor, held on December 4, Helps declined to recite the traditional, though not legally required, oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II, the Canadian monarch,[8] explaining she does not hold any ideology against the Queen, but wanted to emphasise her opinion that Victoria is part of Songhees and Esquimalt territory.[8] Helps was criticized by monarchists. [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Vaughn Palmer: A Green hue spreads, threatening Vancouver Island’s orange profile". Vancouver Sun, November 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Victoria: Helps holds on to early lead to defeat Fortin". Victoria Times-Colonist, November 15, 2014,
  3. ↑ Simmons, Brian (20 November 2014). "New Mayor and Council Inauguration". lisahelpsvictoria.ca. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Lisa Helps elected new Victoria mayor". Global News, November 16, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Mayoral candidate Lisa Helps takes action". The Martlet, October 9, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "First-term Victoria Coun. Lisa Helps will take run at mayor’s job". Victoria Times-Colonist, January 1, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "A 'People-Centred' New Mayor for Victoria". The Tyee, November 19, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 McElroy, Justin (December 5, 2014). "Victoria's new mayor decides not to pledge allegiance to the Queen". Global News. Retrieved December 5, 2014.


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