Amazing Alumni – BSN ’92

Born and raised in the City of North Vancouver, Linda graduated with honours from the BSN program at UBC in 1992 and went on to have a stellar career in public health nursing, which included a wide range of activities such as working in schools and community clinics, providing preventative nursing services to the Squamish Nation, being a program coordinator for children, youth and families, and leading the North Shore Physicians Immunization Project for Vancouver Coastal Health. As Linda expressed it, “You have to go where the people are, not ask them to come to you.”

After ensuring that Ridgeway Elementary School (one of the most significant heritage buildings in North Vancouver) was restored, Linda ran for the Board of Education in North Vancouver in 2008. During her term, she played a leadership role in the revitalization of the city’s schools. “As a nurse, we spend a lot of time assessing individuals, communities, and systems, so it really was a natural fit,” she admitted.

Over two terms as city councilor in North Vancouver, Linda used her knowledge of public health to campaign for issues not typically prioritized in all-male councils, one of which was children’s health and mobility. She has also proposed and enacted a range of policies designed to encourage a healthier city. Among the many initiatives in which she played a leadership role as councilor were the development of the city’s Child, Youth and Family-Friendly Charter and the creation of the city’s Dementia Friendly Plan. Both of these documents recognize that the services and programs the city supports, and its built form, have huge impacts on the capacity of children, youth, families, and some seniors to be fully included in the community.

In the fall of 2018, Linda took her passion for a healthier city even further into public dialogue, in the context of a lively civic election campaign. As she said, “My vision for the city is captured by the theme of my campaign — passionate, caring, inclusive. I certainly want people to be proud of and engaged in their city — to be passionate about it. I also want a city that is caring and inclusive.”

On October 20, 2018, Linda was elected as mayor. “I am extremely proud to be a nurse and now a mayor,” Linda says. “My vision for my City is to create ‘A Healthy City for All.’” In fact, her goal is to make the City of North Vancouver the healthiest small city in the world. “It may be a stretch goal” she says, “but one I am willing to pursue. And I will definitely be using my knowledge, skills and abilities as a public health nurse.”

Linda’s deep knowledge of North Vancouver’s diverse communities, the relationships she has built with various organizations through her public health nursing practice, and her evidence-informed approach to public policy, are skills that will stand her in good stead as mayor, as well as Vice Chair of the Metro Vancouver Board — a role to which she was elected in November.

The UBC School of Nursing is thrilled to have an alum such as Linda showing the way forward in taking public health, public policy and advocacy for those most in need to such a high level. What a mentor for the next generation of our graduates!

Excerpted from an Amazing Alumni entry prepared by Sally Thorne. Read Linda Buchanan’s full story here: bit.ly/BSN92LindaBuchanan