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Eduardo Sousa

Independent for Cowichan Valley School Board

Climate Change, Heat, Fires, & the Environment

Energy-Efficient Buildings

I promise to ask for an audit of our buildings, energy efficient and not energy efficient as way of tracking our district emissions through Climate Action Advisory Committee

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

I promise to have staff through Superintendent report to Board and Climate Action Advisory on how our emissions reductions are going.

Walking & Cycling

I promise to work with the Climate Action Advisory Committee to update our climate action plan on encouraging cycling and walking (where possible).

Culture & Events

Place Names & Commemorations

I promise to support whatever processes and policies may develop formally when it comes to Indigenous place names and commemoration

Human Rights

Trans Rights & Access to Public Services

I promise to continue upholding SOGI and all other human rights affirming policies as indicated in for example Policy 25

Local Government, Planning, & Democracy

Budgeting

I promise to always balance the budget as a Board Governor

Good Governance

I promise to continue educating myself on good governance procedures and helping improve board functions and processes where needed - and to abide by good governance best practices

Long-Term Plan

I promise to abide by our Strategic Plan 2025-2030

Public Engagement

I promise to work with Superintendent and Board to ensure our public engagement processes are sound and meaningful

Youth Engagement

I promise to find ways working with our Board to engage our youth more meaningfully
I promise to explore the possibility of co-chairing the Climate Action Advisory Committee with one of our youth

Mental Health, Drugs, & Addiction

Mental Health in Schools

I promise to work with Board and Superintendent on tracking mental health in our schools - how the kids are doing and what more we can be doing

Reconciliation & Indigenous Nations

Indigenous Languages

I promise to uplhold whatever policies continue to be developed and implemented to protect and enhance the Indigenous languages of our school district

Indigenous Schooling

I promise to continue supporting Indigenous schooling and whatever measures are needed to increase Indigenous graduation rates

Land Title & Governance

I promise to work with Board and Administration on issues involving title and governance that intersect with our District's geography

Place Names & Commemorations

I promise to support whatever processes and policies may develop formally when it comes to Indigenous place names and commemoration

Residential Schools

I promise to ensure the nightmare legacy of residential schools is never ever forgotten or downplayed in our schools district wide and at the individual school level

Schools & Public Education

After-School Programs

I promise to continue supporting after-school programs and their expansion where feasible

Artificial Intelligence in Schools

I promise to work with Board and Superintendent to look at how AI is being used in our schools, the safeguards and what more we need to do to ensure kids are learning appropriately and safely

Bullying & Bigotry

I promise to do everything I can to ensure classrooms are safe places from bullying and bigotry, such as ensuring our Policy 25 is up to date and active and all related Administrative Procedures are followed

Childcare

I promise to support childcare spaces on school property and find ways to better integrate childcare needs of children, caregivers and administrators into our education system

Indigenous Schooling

I promise to continue supporting Indigenous schooling and whatever measures are needed to increase Indigenous graduation rates

Media Literacy & Critical Thinking

I promise to support all measures needed for media literacy and critical thinking especially with regards to AI

Mental Health in Schools

I promise to work with Board and Superintendent on tracking mental health in our schools - how the kids are doing and what more we can be doing

Neurodivergent Students & Support

I promise to be sensitive to neurodivergent student needs and their support systems and to ensure they have safe and meaningful learning environments.

Student Involvement & Engagement

I promise to support ways to increase student involvement and engagement in board processes
I promise to look to find a way to have a student co-chair our Climate Action and Advisory Committee if I chair the committee again.

Traffic Safety Around Schools

I promise to support measures needed to ensure traffic safety around schools

Biography

submitted by the candidate or their team
Eduardo is a School Trustee and works for Cowichan Tribes as Special Projects Advisor on the Xwulqw'selu Watershed Sustainability Plan and has taught at VIU's Indigenous Land Management and IPCA Planning programs. He has a Master’s from York University on watershed planning.

Eduardo Sousa was born in Lisbon, Portugal to parents Maria Virginia from the Alentejo region and Eduardo Manuel from the Acorean Island of Sao Miguel. He is an Incumbent School Board Trustee for Cowichan Valley School District 79. He is Special Projects Advisor for Cowichan Tribes working to develop a watershed and water sustainability plan for the Xwulqw'selu / Koksilah river in a government-to-government process.

Eduardo has taught at Vancouver Island University's Indigenous Land Management Certificate program and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Planning Certificate program. He previously worked as an Advisor with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative which fosters Indigenous nationhood as a way to conserve and manage Indigenous lands. Eduardo also runs a small consultancy, Caminho Do Meio, providing strategic planning and communications, and project management support for Indigenous communities. Eduardo also worked in the conservation sector, helping successfully implement the world renowned and award- winning Great Bear Rainforest Agreements with First Nations, the BC Government and the logging industry.

Prior to moving to the west coast in 2008, Eduardo was also a social justice community organizer, and before that an environmental planner and special projects coordinator for Toronto Parks, working with communities on environmental stewardship projects. He has a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from Toronto's York University, focusing on watershed planning and community mobilization.

Promises

See all 25 promises
Public Engagement
I promise to work with Superintendent and Board to ensure our public engagement processes are sound and meaningful
Budgeting
I promise to always balance the budget as a Board Governor
Trans Rights & Access to Public Services
I promise to continue upholding SOGI and all other human rights affirming policies as indicated in for example Policy 25

Reason for running

submitted by the candidate or their team
I am running again because my work is incomplete from first mandate. There is more to be done on actioning our climate action plan, on ensuring ALL our kids and their teachers feel safe in the classroom, and on helping improve communications channels and engagement processes.

I am running for re-election as a School Board Trustee on three priority areas: 1. Care for All (where kids and their families and teachers feel safe and welcome), 2. Climate Readiness (building on our first-ever Climate Action Plan) and 3. Greater Communication and Engagement (improving ways to connect with families and the broader community of which we are a part. As a father of two school-age children I remain committed to serving our community to improve our educational system in the Valley to support a safe and inclusive learning environment for our kids. Over my professional working life — whether negotiating collective agreements, or negotiating conservation agreements with multiple governments (federal, provincial, First Nations) I have been used to working in nuanced spaces, where issues are not black and white, where one is called to see different sides of an issue while also rooted in one’s values (which in this context focuses on centering the kids). This is the approach I have also taken as a Trustee.

I am a reasonably minded and civic-rooted person guided by social scientific and statistical based evidence, by sound financial responsibility, by good consultation processes, by listening, by my ethics of fairness, belonging and social justice especially as rooted in Reconciliation, and by my heart. My approach is not easily reduced to a political spectrum — rather I am guided by these principals that help make reasoned informed decisions that centre the kids. The kids are always at the centre.

The past four years I have learned a great deal about what it means to be an elected official who governs with other board members with kids at the centre of decision-making. It is not always easy as each may have a different way of understanding what centering kids looks like and that is fine — we need diversity on a school board that remains focussed on kids’ wellbeing, and I am sure we will have it with a new mandate.


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Contact

sousa4sd79trustee@gmail.com

Facebook: Eduardo Sousa on Facebook voteeduardosousa