Sierra Wicks-Irving wants to advocate for people with disabilities, open women’s health clinic
Sierra Wicks-Irving at the UVSS all-candidates debate. Photo by Sabina Mendoza.
Sierra Wicks-Irving, a 24-year-old licensed practical nurse currently working toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the Camosun College-UVic bridge program, is running for Saanich council.
Wicks-Irving told the Martlet she was encouraged to run by her community due to her age, background in health care, and advocacy for people with a disability. Wicks-Irving, who has a sister with autism, said she wants to give a voice to people who may have difficulties advocating for themselves.
“I really think it’s important to consult with people in the disability community and try to gauge what we can do to make things accessible for people [and] what sorts of services we can provide to them [and] what sort of accommodations they need,” she said. “Everyone’s got a unique perspective to things, and there’s little things that maybe we aren’t thinking about that can actually be really impactful for someone with a disability.”
If elected, Wicks-Irving hopes to seek input directly from the disability community, advocate to the province for renewed funding for autism intervention programs, and work with groups such as the Garth Homer Society to improve accessibility and inclusion.
Another goal for Wicks-Irving is opening a women’s health clinic in the district that would expand service offerings. “A lot of women’s health is very focused just on reproductive health, which is very important,” she said. “[But] as women get older, there’s other challenges that come with that.”
In a statement to the Martlet, Wicks-Irving said she would follow the method the City of Colwood used to get more family doctors. Last year, Colwood made headlines as Mayor Doug Kobayashi pushed for the city to allocate up to $500 000 to set up a clinic, covering its rent, overhead, and staffing. Part of this model involves making family doctors municipal employees, with the city handling administration, salary, and benefits.
“If I was able to open a clinic with family doctors and then a women’s clinic, I would like to look at broadening healthcare services for students as I know accessibility to healthcare services and mental health supports for students can be limited,” Wicks-Irving’s statement continued.
As a current student at Camosun College, Wicks-Irving hopes more students run again in the future, and that the district makes more of an effort to listen to students’ voices.
“I’d really love to see a way that the district could work with UVic and Camosun to come to the students to try and get them more involved…. Younger people have lots of ideas and lots of perspectives they can bring.”
Wicks-Irving’s campaign platform can be found here. For additional information on B.C.’s general local elections, visit your municipality’s respective page, the B.C. government’s voter guide, local elections 101 brochure, the 2026 local elections FAQ page, and Elections BC.
The final voting day for the local elections is Oct. 17. Advanced voting for the District of Saanich is available on Oct. 14 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Hellenic Community Centre, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at UVic’s Student Union Building. Candidate profiles and voting locations can be found here. The Martlet also has coverage of Saanich’s mayoral candidates Zac de Vries, Karen Harper, and Rishi Sharma, as well as two current UVic students running for council, Finn Fairbairn and Noah Fruttarol.
