Question 1: Current occupation and place of residence
Question 2: Have you ever held elected office before? If so, what and when? If this is your first time running in provincial politics, what prompted you to run?
Question 3: What do you see as the top two or three issues in Fraser-Nicola, and how would you address them?
Question 4: What makes you the best candidate for Fraser-Nicola?
Q1: Motion picture technician, Hope.
Q2: I’ve never been elected to office, although I ran in the last federal election for the Green Party of Canada in the electoral district of Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon.
I’ve committed myself to run in provincial politics because of the ill-conceived economic policy in regards to massive mineral and energy extraction and the degradation of the environment by the current provincial government.
Q3: The top three issues in the Fraser-Nicola riding are job creation, infrastructure, and bio-solids.
Job creation: We in the Greens believe that the greatest economic catalyst the world will ever see is the transfer to clean and renewable energy systems. We have already started consultations with the third-largest solar panel manufacturer in the world in regards to building solar farms to produce clean and affordable energy. These will create thousands of full-time jobs.
We also are strategically located to take advantage of the third largest production centre for film and TV production. Our goals are to build production studios in Hope and Ashcroft.
These are extremely well-paying jobs, and if Hope, for example, were to land a TV series, it could possibly increase its GDP by as much as $10 million per year.
Forestry, the one-time mainstay of the B.C. economy, needs to be readdressed. The quotas and tree farm licences must be redistributed away from the large multi-national forest companies, and back to value-added lumber producers here in Canada.
Infrastructure: Roads and bridges throughout the region are in desperate need of repair.
Two sections of highway—the “Big Slide” [Highway 12 between Lytton and Lillooet] and the 10 Mile Slide on Highway 99 near Fountain Valley—need to be rebuilt, circumventing the existing danger zones. These projects would also create significant jobs.
Bio-solids: The sewage treatment plant in Hope also needs to be upgraded into a tertiary treatment facility, and not just repaired, as mentioned by their council. These projects would also create many jobs for the area.
Q4: What makes me the best candidate is that I’m a proven problem-solver. I have an excellent work ethic, and after working with some of the largest mass media corporations in North America I know how to get things done. Also, I’ve belonged to many political parties, and have that experience under my belt.