Mischa Oak Questionnaire

Misleading

1. FireSmart

   “Another barrier is the current Tree Protection Bylaw, which unfairly stops homeowners from dealing with fire-risk trees close to their own homes.”

   Misleading The bylaw adds paperwork and cost, but it doesn’t stop homeowners. It has a permit written for trees that are a fire hazard to property.

   • The bylaw protects trees 30 cm or more across at chest height, plus some listed species. On a residential lot with a house, the owner can remove one protected tree every two calendar years without a permit. That doesn’t apply to Garry Oak, Arbutus, Pacific Yew or Pacific Dogwood, to trees 75 cm or more across, or to trees in hazard or ecological permit areas.
   • Beyond that, the Director can issue a permit where a tree is “identified as a fire hazard to property.” A report from the fire prevention officer, an arborist or another professional may be required. A tree in imminent danger of falling can come down without a permit, if the owner tells the Town within three business days.
   • He is right that a permit costs money. Applying to remove two or more trees within two years costs $100, unless they are dead, dying or at risk of falling. Each tree cut needs two replacement trees, with a $700 deposit for each: $1,400 per tree cut, returned two years after planting if the trees are healthy. Or the owner can pay the Town $2,000 per tree cut, which isn’t returned. The Town may also ask for a professional report, and the Director can refuse a permit.
   • Oak told us that some owners have more than one fire-risk tree near their house but can take down only one, and that owners who can’t afford the fees shouldn’t be left at risk. The one-tree limit applies only to removal without a permit. The fire-hazard permit sets no limit on the number of trees, but each tree carries the costs above.
   On this site:

   • Tree Protection Bylaw update

   Sources: Tree Protection Bylaw No. 725, 2023 (ss. 4.2, 4.3, 5.3, 5.4, 6.1, 6.5) (Town of Qualicum Beach)

Accurate

1. Finances

   “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.”

   Accurate The Town has a strategy and has studied what its replacements will cost, but the detailed plan isn’t public. Its own budget says the long-term capital and financial plans are still to come.

   • The Town approved an Asset Management Policy in 2016 and received a staff strategy in 2020. The strategy sets out steps to take. It has no costs or replacement dates.
   • A consultant prepared an Asset Replacement Plan and a Financing Strategy, shown to Council as slide presentations in October 2024 and January 2025. We found no full report on the Town’s website. The public can see totals: about $360 million in assets, $5.8 million a year needed for replacements against $2.5 million funded, and a 1.3% tax increase each year to close the gap. There is no public schedule of which assets need replacing and when.
   • The 2026 Financial Plan lists a long-term capital plan and a long-term financial plan for asset replacement as work still to do, and $27,000 to put the strategy into practice was carried forward unspent. The Town plans replacements five years at a time. Staff say the reserves meant to pay for replacements are underfunded.
   • The Town has won asset management grants before, including a provincial grant of $12,500 to help put its strategy into practice. We found no record either way on whether its planning has cost it other grants.
   On this site:

   • What staff say about the reserves

   Sources: Regular Council agenda, Feb 5, 2020 (Asset Management Strategy, pp. 64–84) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, Oct 2, 2024 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Special Council minutes, Jan 8, 2025 (Asset Management Financing Strategy) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Special Council minutes, Dec 17, 2025 (Town of Qualicum Beach); 2026–2030 Financial Plan (adopted Apr 1, 2026) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Committee of the Whole agenda and scoping sheets, Nov 12, 2025 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Special Council agenda, Feb 25, 2026 (2026 budget; asset management grant) (Town of Qualicum Beach)

2. Finances

   “I’d reduce the Town’s reliance on outside consultants, currently running over $2 million a year […]”

   Accurate About right, going by the Town’s lists of suppliers.

   • The Town’s 2024 list of suppliers paid over $25,000 shows about $1.86 million to consulting, engineering, design and communications firms, and about $2.06 million with its law firms and auditor added. The 2025 list is similar: about $2.05 million, or $2.25 million with legal and audit. That is our tally. The Town doesn’t publish a consultant total.
   • The largest supplier in our count is Koers & Associates Engineering, which designs the Town’s water, road and drainage projects: $956,843 in 2024 and $940,797 in 2025.
   On this site:

   • Every consultant and law firm paid over $25,000

   Sources: Special Council agenda, Jun 25, 2025 (2024 Statement of Financial Information, supplier payments) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council agenda, Jun 24, 2026 (closed meeting motions released; 2025 Statement of Financial Information) (Town of Qualicum Beach)

3. FireSmart

   “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.”

   Accurate All three were on the list Council pushed back in July 2025 to pay for Eaglecrest.

   • The Urban Forest Master Plan update went to 2030, the Fire Department Strategic Plan to 2027 and the Park Inventory Prioritization Plan to 2029.
   On this site:

   • Everything pushed back
   • Fire Department Strategic Plan
   • Urban Forest Master Plan update
   • Park inventory prioritization plan

   Sources: Special Council minutes, Jul 23, 2025 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Special Council agenda and deferral lists, Jul 23, 2025 (Town of Qualicum Beach)

4. FireSmart

   “Qualicum Beach adopted a Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan in June 2024, funded largely by a one-time provincial grant […]”

   Accurate Council adopted it on June 26, 2024. A $68,980 provincial FireSmart grant paid for the plan.

   Sources: Regular Council minutes, Jun 26, 2024 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, May 3, 2023 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan (Town of Qualicum Beach)

5. Eaglecrest

   “[…] deferring priorities like funds that were supposed to go towards affordable housing and the Seniors Activity Centre expansion to cover the gap.”

   Accurate The $450,000 affordable housing reserve went into the purchase, and the Seniors Activity Centre study was pushed to 2028.

   • The Financial Plan schedules the housing money to be paid back in 2027 and 2028, from land sales.
   On this site:

   • Where the purchase money came from
   • Seniors Activity Centre study

   Sources: Special Council minutes, Jul 23, 2025 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Special Council agenda and deferral lists, Jul 23, 2025 (Town of Qualicum Beach); 2025 Audited Financial Statements (Town of Qualicum Beach); 2026–2030 Financial Plan (adopted Apr 1, 2026) (Town of Qualicum Beach)

6. Eaglecrest

   “Maintenance alone is already costing taxpayers over $1,000 a day, and the course isn’t even open yet.”

   Accurate The interim maintenance contract is $32,000 a month, about $1,050 a day.

   • It covers mowing the new parkland as well as the course, and is capped at $136,000. Council approved it in a closed meeting on March 11, 2026, and made that public on June 24.
   • The Town pays for Eaglecrest from reserves until land sells. Some of that is tax money, and none of the land has sold.
   On this site:

   • The operator’s Eaglecrest contracts
   • The restaurant lease

   Sources: Extreme Eatz Inc. to maintain Eaglecrest Golf Course on interim basis (Apr 29, 2026) (Parksville Qualicum Beach News); Regular Council agenda, Jun 24, 2026 (closed meeting motions released; 2025 Statement of Financial Information) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Eaglecrest Project FAQ, Sep 14, 2026 (Town of Qualicum Beach)

7. Community funding

   “[…] 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.”

   Accurate Property taxes cover $240,000 of the airport’s costs in 2026, and the Town plans to start tracking who uses it this year.

   • Fuel sales, leases and fees bring in $886,300; running the airport costs $1,126,300. The Town does charge some fees ($26,000 budgeted), but its budget doesn’t say whether any are landing fees.
   • In 2026 the Town plans a 12-month lease of equipment to record aircraft arriving and departing. The budget does show what the airport costs to run.

   Sources: 2026–2030 Financial Plan (adopted Apr 1, 2026) (Town of Qualicum Beach)

8. Community funding

   “For example, I watched this past Council waste almost an hour debating whether or not to give the Christmas Market $500.”

   Accurate The request took two meetings and ended $500 lower. The minutes don’t record how long the debate ran.

   • The market asked for $2,500. In April 2026 Council postponed the decision to ask about the market’s costs, then approved $2,000 in May, 4–1. The minutes don’t give a reason for the $500 cut.
   On this site:

   • Christmas Night Market

   Sources: Regular Council minutes, Apr 22, 2026 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, May 13, 2026 (Town of Qualicum Beach)

9. Transparency

   “[…] rather than that information surfacing buried in minutes months later.”

   Accurate Closed-meeting decisions this term were released two to more than nine months after they were made.

   • Eaglecrest decisions from closed meetings in February and July 2025 were released on November 20, 2025.
   On this site:

   • Jean Young’s claim on the same point

   Sources: Regular Council agenda and staff reports, Jun 18, 2025 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council agenda, Sep 17, 2025 (closed meeting motions released) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council agenda, Nov 20, 2025 (Town of Qualicum Beach)

10. Public input

    “Removing that this term made it harder for residents to be heard at the exact moment their input could still shape the outcome […]”

    Accurate He’s right that spoken comments are still gone: this Council kept the rule, never voted on bringing them back and dropped a review it had scheduled. They were removed in October 2020, under the previous Council.

    • Before COVID, residents could speak for two minutes at the end of Council meetings, after the votes, about decisions just made. Speaking before a decision meant applying in advance as a delegation, which is still possible.
    • When COVID closed meetings, comments moved to email, letter and phone. In September 2020 staff offered three options, including moving spoken comments earlier in the meeting. On October 7, 2020, then-Councillors Westbroek and Harrison moved and seconded making written comments after the meeting permanent, and Council adopted the bylaw on October 14.
    • This term, the only change to the Procedure Bylaw, in February 2026, let committee members attend electronically. A consultant recommended reviewing the bylaw in December 2023. The 2024 and 2025 Financial Plans list the review, but it isn’t in the 2026 plan and we found no record of it happening. No motion to bring back spoken comments came to a vote.
    • In-person public input at Committee of the Whole meetings continued, and town-hall style meetings were added in 2025.
    On this site:

    • Teunis Westbroek’s claim on the same point

    Sources: Regular Council agenda, Feb 26, 2020 (Comments from the Gallery) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council agenda, Sep 16, 2020 (Council Procedure Bylaw options, pp. 133–134) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, Oct 7, 2020 (Comments from the Public) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Council Procedure Bylaw No. 733, 2019 (adopted Oct 14, 2020) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, Feb 11, 2026 (Town of Qualicum Beach); Committee of the Whole minutes, Dec 13, 2023 (governance review recommendations) (Town of Qualicum Beach); 2024–2028 Financial Plan (adopted Mar 13, 2024) (Town of Qualicum Beach); 2025–2029 Financial Plan (Town of Qualicum Beach); 2026–2030 Financial Plan (adopted Apr 1, 2026) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Qualicum Beach introduces new ‘town hall’ style committee meetings (Feb 8, 2025) (Parksville Qualicum Beach News)

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