My Commitment To You

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Spanish is a community with tremendous potential.

We have Highway 17. We have the North Channel. We have a beautiful waterfront and marina. We have municipal infrastructure, available land, natural assets, local businesses, and a quality of life that many larger communities simply cannot offer.

What we need now is a clear plan to turn those advantages into opportunity.

I am running for Mayor because I believe the next four years should be about moving Spanish forward with purpose, growing our community, expanding our tax base, attracting investment, creating housing opportunities, strengthening our waterfront economy, and making sure our municipality has the capacity to deliver.

My commitment is simple:

Set priorities. Establish measurable goals. Pursue opportunities aggressively. Report the results to residents.

These are my five strategic priorities for Spanish.

PRIORITY 1 — GROW SPANISH

More residents. More families. More opportunity.

Population growth is fundamental to the long-term sustainability of Spanish.

More residents mean more customers for local businesses, more children and families in our community, a stronger volunteer base, a broader municipal tax base and greater confidence for future investment.

I believe Spanish should establish a measurable long-term population growth target, with the ambition of growing from approximately 670 residents (based on 2021 Census information) toward 850–1,000 residents over the next decade.

That goal should influence how we approach housing, infrastructure, recreation, economic development and municipal investment.

When major decisions come before Council, I want us asking:

Does this help make Spanish a community where more people can live, work, invest and raise a family?

Growth will not happen because we hope for it.

We have to plan for it.

PRIORITY 2 — GET SERIOUS ABOUT HOUSING

If we want more people, we need places for them to live.

Spanish cannot pursue population growth without pursuing housing growth at the same time.

As Mayor, I would advocate for a comprehensive Housing Growth Strategy that identifies the opportunities already available within our community.

That means identifying and mapping:

• municipally      owned land suitable for development
• vacant      serviced and potentially serviceable lots
• redevelopment      properties
• potential      apartment and multi-residential sites
• seniors'      and accessible housing opportunities
• infill      development opportunities
• surplus      properties and buildings
• barriers      that unnecessarily delay appropriate development

Then we need to do something different:

Take those opportunities to the market.

Instead of waiting for developers and investors to discover Spanish, Spanish should actively identify potential builders, developers, housing organizations and investors and show them what our community has to offer.

We should be able to say:

Here is the land. Here is the opportunity. Here is what Spanish needs. Let's talk.

PRIORITY 3 — GO AFTER INVESTMENT

Economic development should be proactive, not reactive.

Spanish needs a clear answer to one very important question:

Why Spanish?

We have a compelling story to tell.

Highway 17. The North Channel. Affordable land. Municipal services. Broadband connectivity. A marina and waterfront. An incredible outdoor lifestyle. Access to a regional workforce. Proximity to larger regional centres.

Those advantages should form the foundation of a professional Invest in Spanish strategy.

As Mayor, I would advocate for a more aggressive approach to attracting:

• entrepreneurs
• developers
• tourism      operators
• trades      and service businesses
• remote      workers
• small      and medium-sized employers
• housing      investment
• waterfront      businesses
• new      residents

We cannot control every economic decision made outside our community.

But we can control whether Spanish is visible, prepared and actively competing for opportunity.

I want Spanish to become known as a municipality that welcomes good ideas, responds professionally to investors and works hard to turn viable opportunities into reality.

PRIORITY 4 — UNLOCK THE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF OUR WATERFRONT

Our waterfront should be more than an attraction. It should be an economic engine.

Spanish has something many communities would love to have:

A waterfront on the North Channel.

Our marina can become the anchor of a broader waterfront economic district, one that remains welcoming and accessible to residents while creating opportunities for businesses, tourism and community activity.

A long-term waterfront strategy should explore opportunities for:

• food      and beverage businesses
• retail
• marine      services
• accommodations
• equipment      and watercraft rentals
• tourism      experiences
• community      events
• trails      and connections
• attractive      public spaces
• visitor      information
• seasonal      commercial opportunities

The goal shouldn't simply be getting more people to stop in Spanish.

The goal should be giving them more reasons to stay longer and spend locally.

A visitor who buys fuel and leaves has one economic impact.

A visitor who docks, eats, shops, stays overnight, rents equipment and explores the community has another.

Let's build the second economy.

PRIORITY 5 — BUILD A MUNICIPALITY THAT CAN DELIVER

Big ambitions require smart execution.

Spanish is a small municipality, and we have to recognize the realities that come with that.

We cannot—and should not—try to build every capability internally.

Instead, we should be aggressive about pursuing partnerships, shared services, regional cooperation, outside expertise and government fundingwherever they allow us to deliver better results for residents.

That means looking for opportunities to collaborate with neighbouring municipalities, Indigenous communities, regional organizations, senior levels of government, economic development organizations, educational institutions and the private sector.

It also means making grant readiness a priority.

When funding opportunities arise, Spanish should have projects identified, preliminary work completed where practical and priorities clearly established so that we are positioned to compete.

Being small does not mean thinking small.

It means we need to be resourceful, collaborative and strategic.

MY APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP

I am not proposing growth at any cost.

I am proposing responsible growth that strengthens the community we already love.

Growth should help us protect municipal services, support our businesses, create opportunities for young families, provide housing options for seniors, improve community amenities and build a stronger tax base for the future.

And residents deserve to know whether their municipal government is delivering.

I would advocate for Council to establish measurable priorities and provide residents with regular public progress updates.

Not simply:

“What did Council discuss?”

But:

“What did we accomplish?”

That distinction matters.

THE CHOICE IN 2026

Spanish does not need to become a big city.

We should never lose the character, relationships, natural beauty and sense of community that make this town special.

But preserving what we love does not mean standing still.

We can welcome new families.

We can create more housing.

We can attract businesses and investment.

We can build a stronger waterfront economy.

We can expand our tax base.

We can pursue partnerships and funding.

And we can give the next generation more reasons to build their lives right here in Spanish.

I believe Spanish's best years can still be ahead of us.

But opportunity doesn't come from waiting.

We have to go after it.

RACHEL THERIAULT FOR MAYOR

Leadership. Growth. Opportunity. Results.

Let's Build the Next Chapter of Spanish—Together.