HELLO BARB… I was born in Toronto Ontario in 1975 and moved soon after to Regina Saskatchewan where I was raised. I relocated to Victoria in 1995 with a close friend and met my husband to be, Roy Chandler Jr, soon after. I graduated with Distinction from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BsN RN) in 2002. That same year, I was also married and we bought our home in Vic West. In 2007 Roy and I welcomed our daughter, Penelope-Rose, into the world - a very welcome (and long awaited) addition to our small family.
In my professional career I have focused primarily on community nursing although I did work shortly at Victoria General on the Post Partum unit and as a Public Health Nurse. Roy and I were also care home parents for several years with the Boys and Girls club which meant we had high risk pregnant young woman living in our home. Before being elected in 2005 to Victoria City Council I was the Director of the UVIC Family Centre a resource, referral and drop in centre for students with children. Currently I work at the downtown Victoria Youth Clinic which is a multidisciplinary full service medical clinic for street involved and high risk youth ages 12-24.
Roy and I are animal lovers and have recently said goodbye to 2 of our geriatric dogs, although thankfully we still have our dog Jake and our cat Marley! We also love camping, being outside and have travelled extensively in Canada as well as Europe, the USA, Mexico, Central and South America. We were also care home parents for several years with the Boys and Girls club which meant we had high risk pregnant young woman living in our home.
My interest in civic politics is rooted in my experience working in my community, Vic West, after we bought our home in 2002. I soon joined the board of my Community Association and worked on several projects that stemmed from our community vision and mapping project including co-founding the Vic West Food Security Network that was the impetus to our well known community garden “Raynor 
Shine” and the first Food Roots community pocket market.
I also see municipal politics as an extension of my nursing career since so much of what I see daily at City Hall is very closely linked to community and individual health - whether it be about land use planning and the built environment, our social and harm reduction services, parks and recreation, roads and other municipal infrastructure like public water and sewage…How our city operates and grows has an impact on the current and future health of its residents.
As a councillor I have worked very hard to bring sustainability and triple bottom line account out of ‘jargon’ and into ‘action’. I first brought forward the concept of an Office of Sustainability during a council strategic planning session in early 2006 and have worked with senior staff and our city manager towards what is now our Sustainability Framework. I am excited to return to office because I am excited about the impact of this Framework and the potential for Victoria to be a global leader in civic social, economic and environmental responsibility and commitment.
