By Jack Krayenhoff

ALAN LOWE is an architect by profession, but he has been Victoria’s mayor (the 50th, as it happens) since 1999. The next municipal elections are coming this November – but he won’t be running again.

It’s a good time to sit down with him to review his term, and see what role his Christian faith has played in it. Lowe is a member of the Chinese Pentecostal Church.

Lowe credits his faith with enabling him to cope with the many stresses of his work.

“Some issues are very challenging. People will say, ‘How do you manage to sleep at night?’

“But my faith keeps my life in perspective, and helps ground my values in my daily life.”

What is an example of his faith helping him with a challenging issue? Lowe cites the problem of the homeless.

“People see me as conservative by nature; but through my faith, I have compassion – and that enables me to deal with the issue the way I have.

“Some people think I am too soft; but you have to understand the predicament of the homeless.

“Often they are not in their situation by choice; but because the resources are not there for them to deal with their addiction or their mental illness, we have an ongoing problem. We have to help them.”

He adds that the first priority is to find low-cost housing for them.

Then, when their situation is stabilized, the underlying problems of substance abuse and mental illnesses can be tackled with a better chance of success.

How can churches help with the housing problem?

Lowe points out that some downtown churches, like St. John the Divine, already provide emergency shelter in extreme weather; and others might consider opening up their basements or fellowship rooms for that purpose, too.

As far as more permanent housing is concerned, there are churches which have excess land for building, but not the finances.

In such a case, the city could do something jointly with them and make sure street people who came to live in such a facility would be connected with resources to help them become productive citizens – or at least protect them from running into trouble, as in the case of people with chronic mental disease.

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This leads to another question: Was the province unwise to close down Riverview Hospital, in order to place mental patients back into the community?

“They made a mistake doing it without making sure the necessary services were available to them in the community,” the mayor responds.

“At this point, the streets have become our institutions. They should reopen some of those institutions again, for the protection of the people who need it.”

What about gambling? Lowe was criticized by some Christians for favouring a casino in Victoria, though in the end the council voted it down.

“It was a difficult issue for me,” says Lowe.

“I don’t gamble, nor do I condone it. But casinos are legal forms of entertainment in this society, and if Victoria did not approve it, one of the other 12 surrounding municipalities certainly would. And that’s what happened – View Royal did.

“Now people in Victoria who want to gamble can get there within 10 minutes by car. View Royal gets 10 percent of the revenue, which they can use any way they like; but Victoria gets nothing, even though we still have to deal with the problems that come from gambling.

“Don’t forget: Victoria’s downtown is the downtown for the whole region.”

Politically, have Lowe’s Christian connections been a help or a hindrance to him?

“On one hand, the Christian community helped me get elected, and still supports me. On the other, I have been challenged by certain publications because of my faith – and mocked, too.

“Some people think Christians are closed-minded. I try not to be closed-minded, because only 10 percent of the public goes to church – and I have to represent the other 90 percent as well.”

And what will he do after his term expires? Perhaps get into provincial or federal politics?

“I still have my architectural practice, and I want to spend some more time with my family – and this will keep me busy for the interim.

“I will look at whatever other opportunities I have, but at this point I have not looked at the federal or provincial scene.”

February 2008