special features - abbotsford civic election 2014

Abbotsford News Friday, November 7, 2014 A25

The future of Abbotsford depends on you!

VOTE NOV. 15

For full voting information visit abbynews.com

A26 Abbotsford News Friday, November 7, 2014

I will continue my full-time efforts on behalf of all Abbotsford residents, and will remain available, accessible & accountable.

BE IN TOUCH! Email: [email protected] Home: 604.859.7319 Cell: 604.557.8654AUTHORIZED BY FINANCIAL AGENT: [email protected]

RE-ELECT Les BarkmanFOR COUNCIL

VOTENOV. 15

EXPERIENCE• Forty years with the City of Abbotsford• Thirty-four years working public works

interacting with every department in the city

• Six years (two terms) on City Council• Traffi c Safety Committee• Abbotsford Youth Commission• Abbotsford Parks, Recreation and Culture

• Mission Abbotsford Transit Committee• Active in Mayor’s Homeless Task Force

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT• Volunteer in cold weather shelter• Thirty-seven years in community sports as

offi cial, coach or player• Northview Community Church member• Community connected

of Sikh / Christian Ini-tiative, Past director of Abbotsford Downtown Business Assoc’n, Past director of Alpha Family Services, 5 years on the leadership team of The Life Centre

KEY ISSUES:• Homelessness• Protecting our environ-

ment, which relates to transportation issues.

• Job creation

Q&A:1. Getting the key players to the table & encouraging the attitude of “How do we make this work?” We likely need to start with some low barrier housing, with counselling for their addictions and mental health needs. Some of the clients might also need some skills train-ing to prepare them for re-entry. There should also be the opportunity for them to progress into more permanent hous-ing through this process. Some examples of how this is already working are the Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope in our own city, and the Gate-way of Hope in Langley.

2. This year, I am happy to see that we had a zero tax increase which is a first time in many years. I think that City hall should commit to not having tax increases exceed the rate of infla-tion.

Sandy Blue

PARTY AFFILIATION: AbbotsfordFIRST

EDUCATION: Management Certificate – Administrative Man-agement (BCIT); Ec.D (University of Waterloo);CEcD (International Economic Development Council)

OCCUPATION: Manager Strategic Eco-nomic Initiatives, City of Maple Ridge

RESIDENCY: Abbotsford

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Commissioner - Abbots-ford Police Board; vice-president – Abbots-ford Police Foundation

KEY ISSUES:• Creating a business

friendly approach to assist existing busi-ness and attract much investment

• Leveraging the many assets of Abbotsford to the benefit of cur-rent and future gen-erations

• Establish / strengthen relationships with senior government, industry, business and post-secondary to develop practical solutions to priority issues.

Q&A:1. I believe we should facilitate discussion with subject matter experts, considering proven methods from other jurisdictions to create a ‘made in Abbotsford; FOR Abbots-ford’ solution

2. I would ensure that priorities are aligned at City Hall so that the budget envelope matches the priority and that we are realistic when considering a bal-ance of new infrastruc-ture investments and maintaining existing. We need to stay within our means, with Council leading by example.

Rick Barkwell

EDUCATION: College, industry related

OCCUPATION: Financial Advisor, Ray-mond James

RESIDENCY: Abbotsford/McMillan

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: A b b o t s f o rd - S u m a s Rotary, AMHA, Campus of Care

KEY ISSUES: • Job creation/retention• Business attraction• Development

Q&A:1. Work with the new coordinator to liaise with local charities and service groups as well as provincial counter-parts to move quickly to get low-barrier housing open. Ensure that the at-risk persons are mon-itored and kept in a safe

environment to assistwith their reintegrationinto the community.

2. Spending should beheld to approved bud-gets only. In situationsof emergency shouldbe the only reason to go over budget- in anydepartment of city hall-we can’t rob one to pay for another. Debt reduc-tion should be increasedyearly as much as pos-sible while holding expenses in check. This low interest environ-ment will not last and we need to pay down our debt quickly.

Raji Buttar

EDUCATION: MBA

OCCUPATION: Co-owner, Arisoko Lux-ury Travel Inc.


KEY ISSUES• Homelessness• Unemployment• Property Taxes

Q&A:1. We need to showmore understanding and compassion. Some-times it is forgotten that homelessness is not justa housing issue. Home-lessness is just one issueamongst many others including drug addictionand mental health. Weneed to take a deeperlook and address the serious complexity of this issue. There areother countries andcities dealing with thissame issue in a positive and effective way; whycan’t we? Abbotsfordshould learn from thesecities and countries sowe can adopt some of their ideas.

2. Changes in spend-ing are required in ourmunicipal government.Economic develop-ment efforts in Abbots-ford need to focus onsustainable long term growth. In turn, thiswill generate the finan-cial resources Abbots-ford needs in order tolower property taxes forresidents and improvevarious existing infra-structures. The growthof the business sector

election!2014 COUNCIL CANDIDATES

In addition to providing a brief personal profile, and listing their key issues, The News asked council and mayoral candidates to respond to the following questions:

1. What’s your plan to deal with homelessness in Abbotsford?

2. Are changes required in local municipal spending? If so, what are they and how would you address them?

3. How would you make city hall more accountable and transparent?See abbynews.com/municipalelection for answers to Question 3.

• *Indicates incumbent candidate.

• School board candidates were asked to list two key issues, and indicate how they would deal with those.

• See Wednesday’s edition for in-depth interviews with mayoralty candidate incumbent Bruce Banman, and challenger Henry Braun.

www.abbynews.com/municipalelection

Daniel (Dan) Bue

EDUCATION: BA (sociology & econom-ics, MA (counselling)

OCCUPATION: Clinical Counsellor, Part-time Professor, Former business owner


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Director of MEI, Co-chair of Christian Leaders’ Action Team, Co-chair


CaldwellFor Council

LyleVOTE

• Controlled Spending

• Progressive Thinking

• Jobs for Today and Tomorrow

www.positiveaction.com

Patricia Ross x TheClear Choice

for CouncilWorking for a

better quality of life for Abbotsford.

re-electpatriciaross.ca

Authorized by Christine Eden fi nancial agent [email protected]

Your Voice Matters

PaulREDEKOPP

ELECT

Abbotsford City Councilwww.PaulRedekopp.ca

Authorized by Financial Agent Gerry Lamb [email protected]

Safer Community

Fiscal Responsibility

Lower Property Taxes

2014COUNCIL CANDIDATES election!

will lead to job creation and subsequently, a decrease in unemploy-ment and higher house-hold incomes. Economic prosperity will allow Abbotsford residents to enjoy a better quality of life.

Lyle Caldwell

EDUCATION: High school, certified mechanic, management training

OCCUPATION: Retired, part-time Ducks Unlimited

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Campaign manager for two local elections


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:Abbotsford Rotary, Ducks Unlimited, Food Bank, Abbotsford Hos-pice Society, Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, Abbotsford Arts Council, MSA Museum, Canada Day Parade, Operation Red Nose, Abbotsford International Airshow. Abbotsford Agrifair

KEY ISSUES:• Fiscal prudence.• Good paying jobs,

strong economy.• Open and participa-

tory government, restore trust and integrity.

Q&A:1. This is one of the hard-est challenges facing the newly elected mayor and council. The home-less need compassion and respect. The home-less need acceptance, understanding but firm-

ness as seen dealt by the food bank. Dignity Village is a good interim idea - although many questions still need to be answered. This step I feel will need a good exit strategy to a permanent location. This strategy needs to be expedited.

2. Spending is governed by the Municipal Act. Prescribed and large expenditures should go to public referendum. Electronic on-line town-hall meetings to be held to engage all the public, not just special interest groups.

James W. Breckenridge

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Commerce University of Saskatche-wan Chartered Accoun-tant

OCCUPATION: Emergency shelter worker, advocate, writer, consultant

RESIDENCY: Blueridge/Ridgeview

KEY ISSUES:• Fiscally sustainable,

responsible budgeting and planning

• Social issues (afford-able housing, home-lessness, poverty, hunger, living wage, employment);

• Changing the way the city does business in order to attract busi-ness

Q&A:1. Start on the issue - there is no fast easy neat way to deal with home-lessness which is why

Lethbridge’s plan refers to ‘ending homelessness in 10 years’. Avoiding the issue does nothing but allow the problem to grow worse. Focus-ing on the end goal of helping people become healthy (mentally and physically) enough to remain housed and take up their lives. There are many cities and programs that provide best practices for us to choose from. Prioritize spending/investment/focus based on whether a support or service is necessary to the end goal of healthy people. There are many ser-vices/supports it would be nice to have, but the fiscal reality is we can-not have everything we wish for and we must spend our money on supports and services that will produce a long-term reduction in the number of homeless.

2. Sustainability has to be a major consideration in the finances and bud-geting. The economy and its direction, the budgets/finances of the provincial and federal governments (provid-ers of funding) have a major effect on sustain-ability and the options a city has available to make its finances sus-tainable. There are a growing number of examples of the severe consequences of gov-ernments not focusing on the sustainability of their finances.

Vince Dimanno

PARTY AFFILIATION: AbbotsfordFIRST

EDUCATION: SFU, Kwantlen College

OCCUPATION: Web and software devel-oper

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Candidate for council in 2011


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Abbotsford Ratepayers Association, Abbyfest Multicultural Society, Crohns and Colitis Foun-dation (volunteer)

KEY ISSUES:• Debt, including infra-

structure deficit• Homelessness and

social issues• Economic develop-

ment

Q&A:1. Firstly, to admit that it cannot be solved with a single solution. Sec-ondly, to facilitate col-laboration between all the service providers in the city. 250 service providers exist and all the resources are there to have a great impact on our social issues. We must treat all involved with respect and this includes engaging the homeless about their needs instead of simply imposing our plan upon them. This thinking has resulted in a litany of court cases and a tent city that is no solution.

2. Local governments must return to priority spending. For example, we cannot grow without infrastructure and we have a huge infrastruc-ture deficit. Combined with our existing debt, non-priority spending left our city with only $14 million in the bank last year (as reported to council by the Finance

Dept during the YMCA briefing). To re-fund our DCC account, and to pay for our infrastruc-ture deficit, we need to focus on planning that includes densification. This will help us grow while taking advantage of existing infrastruc-ture.

Daljit Sidhu

EDUCATION: London university

OCCUPATION: Vice-chair of credit union.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Participated in previous city council elections.


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:Volunteer, community sports tournaments, cul-

ture shows, blood dona-tion and Abbotsford Sikh parade.

KEY ISSUES:• Business

development • Safety ( youth at risk)• Affordable homes.

(homelessness)

Q&A:1. Work with provincial level (BC housing). Con-sider every option avail-able such as not profit originations

2. No answer.

*Les Barkman

EDUCATION: Lakehead University

OCCUPATION: Full-time City Councillor

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Two terms as Abbotsford city councillor RESIDENCY: Abbotsford

KEY ISSUES:• Homelessness• Spending tax dollars,

but provide qualityservices

• Property taxation - B.C.Assessment needs to review qualifications for different classifi-cations

Q&A:1. Take all informa-tion from Mayor’s taskforce. My four years of research, working in cold weather shelter, spending time on the street listening to peo-ple, take the data andmake a decision thatwill change people’slives.

2. Spending changes must happen as theneeds of the city change.

CONTINUED ON 28

VOTENOV. 15


Re-Elect

MOE GILLFor Council

COMMITMENT & EXPERIENCE

email: [email protected]

604.746.1138 • Cell: 604.807.1531Authorized by Manbir Banwait, Financial Agent 778-241-4472

Moe Gill was born in Punjab, India, arrived in Canada in 1955, and moved to Abbotsford in 1975. Moe has served on Abbotsford Council since 1996.Moe Gill has served on committees:Traffi c Safety Advisory Committee; Matsqui Dyking, Drainage and Irrigation Committee; AgriFair Board; Fraser Valley Regional District Board; Glen Valley Dyking District Committee; Local Court of Revisions for Frontage Tax; Parcel Tax Review Panel and numerous other local committeesRecent Involvement in many organizations, including:Fraser Valley Cole Crop Growers Association; Fraser Valley Strawberry Growers Association; B.C. Raspberry Growers Association; Federal Agricultural Employment Services; MSA Museum Society; Fraser Valley Indo-Canadian Business Association; Abbotsford-Matsqui Rotary; Dasmesh Punjabi School and the Abbotsford Community FoundationMoe Gill is proud to live in the beautiful City of Abbotsford. He is grateful for the opportunity to serve the community especially on issues surrounding its ongoing growth.

Vote WILSON, Shirleyfor SCHOOL TRUSTEE

Authorized by Financial Agent, Shirley Wilson 778-241-5576


*Bill MacGregor

EDUCATION: Doctorate in Educational Leadership

OCCUPATION: Public Servant

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Two terms On Abbots-ford city council

RESIDENCY: Sumas Mountain

KEY ISSUES:• Jobs• Continued Fiscal

Restraint• Resolution of the

Homeless Issue

Q&A:1. This issue is now before the courts and I am hopeful and of the opinion that it’s satisfac-tory resolution will be reached in the not too distant future given the excellent work done by the Task Force.

2. The simplicity of the answer to this question is a universal principle that we have both long and short term plans for. We spend on our needs and save for our wants all while operating a zero based budget. i.e. One that does not lead into debt and assigns

funds to the Reserves/Savings Account.

Tim Felger

EDUCATION: Ohio State University

OCCUPATION: Unknown

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Drug War Suvivors

KEY ISSUES:• Transportation• Homelessness• Government Employ-

ees performing crimi-nal acts.

Q&A:1. No answer.

2. Lower the bus fare to $1.00 because the buses ride around empty and the goal should be to maximize ridership, not a fare price. It will actually cost the city nothing to lower the rates because ridership will increase and we will make more at a dollar than $2.25 for a ticket price.

Cut the police budget by $10,000,000 a year in 2 years. Their budget is over $50,000,000 a year and growing and Can-ada is becoming a police state with the drug war.

I would change the uni-forms and cars back to Blue and White instead of the Black and stop the drug arrest.

Pass bylaws so all police officers on patrol had to wear body cameras.

Institute Harm Reduc-tion Programs in the city to deal with the Drug Addicted Homeless and make at least 5 camps for the homeless. One for families with children, one for eco-nomic homeless men and woman and several for the drug addicted.

I would lobby the Pro-vincial government to increase the welfare payment for housing, so the Homeless will be able to afford an apart-ment in Vancouver and not migrate to Abbots-ford.

Cut the pay for all man-agement positions in city government and policing, because no government official should make more than $100,000 a year anyway.

Stop payments and tax credits to the Abbots-ford Downtown Busi-ness Association, because they are a waste of tax payer money and it is just government welfare for the busi-ness community.

I would allow Marijuana to be sold in the city and tax it at 3% and the revenue to go to the city government.

I would sell the Hockey Area, because city gov-ernment should not be in the hockey business.

*Moe Gill

EDUCATION: Mission High School

OCCUPATION: Farmer and City Coun-cilor

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Seventeen years on Council


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Numerous committees, boards and Rotary

KEY ISSUES:• Public safety, polic-

ing and fire services resources.

• Homelessness• Abbotsford’s economic

performance.

Q&A: 1. The homeless in Abbotsford have not had their needs properly addressed. I believe that we need to not margin-alize them further than they have already been. It was and is unaccept-able to not recognize that there are a mix-ture of reasons people are homeless (poverty, mental illness etc). We need to coordinate the government and com-munity resources to pro-vide physical and social solutions.

2. Municipal spending is allocated through the budget. Recent budgets have held spending in line. Certain annual and multi-year spending is locked in by contracts

and other agreements. It is not so much that changes in spending need to occur, rather, it is that more funding from provincial and federal levels of government for infrastructure and other needs ought to be effec-tively pursued.

Brenda Falk

PARTY AFFILIATION: AbbotsfordFirst

EDUCATION: Fashion Design UFV, Landscape Design-Hor-ticulture Kwantlen Col-lege

OCCUPATION: Self-employed farmer and business woman

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Member of the Agricul-ture Advisory Commit-tee, as well as Economic Development Advisory Committee, a member of the Mayor’s Task Force for Economic Develop-ment


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Co- Creator of the ‘Pass-port to Christmas’ and the Abbotsford and Regional ‘Circle Farm Tour’.

KEY ISSUES:• Sustainable economic

development• Infrastructure deficit• Homeless Issue

Q&A:1. Abbotsford has a tre-mendous amount of resources already avail-able within the com-munity. We must show leadership and allow B.C. Housing and Fraser

Health to partner with private sector social ser-vice providers such as Abbotsford Community Services, Salvation Army and Mennonite Central Committee in order to get the job done effec-tively.

As Abbotsford First we would work with Fraser Health to establish an Assertive Community Treatment Team that is funded by the provincial government and provide health assessments and services for people living on the streets. These assessments would help us provide the appropri-ate housing and treat-ment options including long term detox centres.Work with B.C. Housing to establish a “Housing First” project with its evidence based, best practices model of hous-ing individuals in a sup-portive housing environ-ment.Work with MCC and Sal-vation Army to enhance the “Rent Bank” an inno-vative way to help sub-sidize individual fami-lies rent ensuring that families have a safe and secure home. 2. We need to define spending priorities based on their net ben-efit to the citizens of Abbotsford.

We would be forward thinking and identify city-wide capital spend-ing priorities, publish them and work towards those objectives, plan-ning for the future growth and develop-ment of our community to build a long term sus-tainable plan for the city of Abbotsford.

Infrastructure is essen-tial to the long term Sustainable Economic Growth of Abbotsford and we would work hard to develop to insure infill of our City instead of outward sprawl maxi-mizing existing infra-structure and maximiz-ing revenue generated by such development.

Raymond Kobes

EDUCATION: Enrolled at the Univer-sity of the Fraser Valley

OCCUPATION: Student

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Post-Secondary Com-missioner on the Parks;Recreation and CultureCommission


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Jam in Jubilee organizer;Friday Nite BasketballGym director; volunteerfor various events in Abbotsford

KEY ISSUES: • Fiscal responsibility

and dealing with ourmunicipal debt.

• Providing a long-termsolution for homeless-ness.

• Increased awareness and emphasis on artsand culture in Abbots-ford.

Q&A:1. I support the Housing First approach in which the homeless do not work through the dif-ferent levels of housing,but rather are immedi-ately moved into theirown residence. Stablehousing is the first and primary need. Other issues can be dealt with once they have a hometo live in. Many of the homeless people areaddicts and are in direneed of housing, regard-less of their habits and lifestyles. A coordinatorthat ensures all pro-grams relating to the homeless are working together is also needed.Most importantly, wemust stop treating andthinking about thehomeless as stats and problems. They are peo-ple that need our helpand support. A society is judged on how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members.

2. In order for municipalspending to be account-able, constant reviews and analyses are essen-tial in order that money is being used properly and distributed in afair and priority-based manner. With regardsto Parks, Recreation andCulture I would be in favour of shifting morefunding to culture as it only received 7% of the PRC budget in 2013. With regards to spending, we must build a plan in order to reduce and eventually eliminate ourmunicipal debt.

FROM 27


CindySCHAFER

RE-ELECT

for

School Trustee• Experienced• Innovative• Hardworking• Common Sense

ApproachAuthorized by C. Schafer Financial Agent

[email protected]


Kelly Chahal


EDUCATION: Master’s in Criminal Jus-tice

OCCUPATION: Independent chairper-son CSC, Probation Offi-cer


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Involved in intercultural, multicultural, interfaith, criminal justice, and social justice. I am on Senate at UFV, Public Relations

KEY ISSUES:• Fiscal Responsibility

- High taxes, low tax base

• Lack of encourage-ment and responsiv-ity towards business development

• Homelessness, afford-able housing

Q&A:1. Any one of us can find ourselves in diffi-cult situations and one can only hope we are treated with dignity and compassion. We need to work with other lev-els of government and resource providers to address issues of indi-viduals facing home-lessness. A multifac-eted approach needs to address multifaceted issues – each individual has found themselves in a state of homeless-ness for a variety of rea-sons and there is no one simple approach. Each individual deserves respect and dignity in any approach to any proposed interventions.

2. Decisions around municipal spending requires a lot of informa-tion gathering, and not just short term thinking but especially long term thinking. Experience of Council plays a big role when it comes down to making those difficult decisions that have long term effects –the City needs to be mindful and take personal responsi-bility of the public purse.

We all are paying for the mistakes made with the event center and

will continue to feel the residual effects for some time leaving us with lit-tle room for other proj-ects. Poor planning, deci-sion making has left the City of Abbotsford with a low tax base and little room for further devel-opment.

Nathan Loewen

EDUCATION:Bachelor of Arts Geog-raphy

OCCUPATION:Manager of contract-ing business, currently student

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Fraser Valley Regional Committee of BC Green Party, assisted with local campaigns


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Volunteer with Fraser Valley Conservancy & Fraser Valley Water-shed Coalition, mem-ber of the Scandinavian Club of Abbotsford, formerly social advo-cate with Vancou-ver-based Streams of Justice.

KEY ISSUES:• Adhering to sustain-

able/green urban development

• End homelessness and support affordable housing options.

• Attracting innova-tive clean-tech busi-nesses and quality employers

Q&A:1. My plan is to employ a multi-faceted approach following examples from other cities where homelessness strategies have shown to be effec-tive. This must include working with a Hous-ing First strategy. Harm Reduction must be inte-grated into this strategy to allow chronic addicts and users a chance to first receive low-barrier housing and other assis-tance without having to be ‘clean’ as they may be in life or death scenarios. “Assertive community treatment” (ACT) teams should compliment with bringing health, mental health, and sub-

stance abuse treatment services directly to cli-ents where and when they are needed. Street outreach workers are to be points of contact for individuals needing access to housing assis-tance. Most importantly, develop long and short term plans for ensur-ing enough permanent affordable housing options are available to prevent more peo-ple from slipping into homelessness.

2. As a Green, I firmly believe in fiscal sus-tainability and balanced budgets to the very best of our city’s means. It must also be viewed in balance with the long term vision for a healthy, equitable and just city that looks after everyone. I would aim to decrease the spend-ing on sectors that carry fewer benefits as seen through the lens of sus-tainability and shifting it towards sectors that offer greater benefits to our community’s future.

Marlisa Power

EDUCATION: Honours Bachelors of Arts - History/English

OCCUPATION: Consultant, Power House Consulting; proj-ect and event co-ordi-nator/social media mar-keter and actress

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Student council mem-ber in high school, stu-dent union member in university


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Abbotsford Farm & Country Market volun-teer, Canadian Cancer Society office volunteer, Canadian Kidney Foun-dation Walk committee member, help at The Warm Zone, member of Grace Church, Abbots-ford Hospice Society vol-unteer.

KEY ISSUES:• Homelessness -

Immediate shelter & longer-term multi-tiered solutions

• Fiscal responsibility/

accountability/trans-parency

• Ease/Attractiveness of doing business in Abbotsford

Q&A:1. I believe a solution modeled on the City of Nanaimo’s approach which worked well in that city - 46 were housed and housing for 160 more is underway - could be implemented in Abbotsford. The stake-holders involved (city, community services, police, health care, Sal-vation Army, churches/outreach etc.) worked with each homeless per-son one on one to come up with individualized plans and solutions to get the person the help they needed.

The homeless are made up of unique individu-als who have individ-ual needs and chal-lenges which have to be addressed in order to successfully get them off the streets. A band aid solution or telling the homeless this is the one solution we are offering and you better like or we won’t help will not work and does not demon-strate compassion. The one on one approach made the homeless feel included and part of the community and because they had a say in deter-mining their own solu-tion, the success rate was higher. The home-less who did not care for the attention because of their criminal activity left town.

2. Spending needs to be fiscally responsible and balanced. Property

tax increase is not an option. We need to stop property tax increases which if higher than inflation will affect qual-ity of life. The percent-age amount of money spent on services has to be readjusted. I believe more funds need to be spent on the arts and culture, promoting all things local, community events, transportation and helping the home-less and less in other areas.

Paul Redekopp

PARTY AFFILIATION: Trinity Western/North West Bible College

OCCUPATION:Driver at Alliance Con-crete Pumps

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Former BC Conservative Party Candidate 2013 provincial election. Cur-rently BC Conservative Party vice-president

RESIDENCY:East Abbotsford What-com area

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Currently on the Board

of directors at Fraser Val-ley Child Development Center, Volunteer with developmentally dis-abled adults, member at TRBN and a marriage coach.

KEY ISSUES:• Homelessness• Safer streets and com-

munities• Property tax, user

fees and the highest unemployment rates in BC

Q&A:1. We cannot run and hide from our homeless community but rather we must find ways to reach out to them. Not tell them what we think is best for them but ask “how can we best help you?” Forming another government run pro-gram is not the answer, instead we need to empower our not-for-profit organizations to succeed in their mission, vision and goals. Encour-age and support them by providing and equip-ping them with the nec-essary tools that they need to achieve those goals.

2. With our debt in excess of $100 million, we need to spend smart and become fiscally respon-sible. We need to prior-itize our spending and lower our taxes. A city with low tax and low

debt is very attractive tonew business and with that comes more jobs and a broader tax base.We all now that smallbusiness is the backbone to our economyso we must do our part to bring small/medium business to Abbotsford.

Doug Rempel

EDUCATION: UBC Sauder School of Business RED

OCCUPATION: Real Estate sales

RESIDENCY: Abbotsford central

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Member of Chamber of Commerce, Triathlon BC,Fraser Valley Real EstateBoard. Currently volun-teer time for Habitat for Humanity UFV and theAbbotsford Triathlon. Previous volunteer workincludes all the past summer games, coach-ing football at Rick Han-sen Secondary School, Abbotsford Youth Com-

CONTINUED ON 30



mission, Junior achieve-ment, and Toast Mas-ters. Board of director for GARD an organi-zation that does water and health programs in Uganda.

KEY ISSUES:• City debt• Homelessness/afford-

able housing• Sustainable develop-

ment

Q&A:1. I plan to support the organizations that have the expertise in this area. I want to con-tinue to work towards having a safe place for our most marginal-ized to live. I plan to continue to donate my time and money to be a part of the solution and walk the walk with them not just talk the talk. I am going to con-tinue to put pressure on the provincial and federal governments to supply us with fund-ing to help eliminate poverty. I am currently

helping to organize a fundraising event that will raise funds for homelessness and affordable housing.

2. We need to look at every penny we spend. We need to look at how much we spend on the top salaries at the city. When someone quits or retires let’s think long and hard if we need to replace them, let’s talk to staff and see if we have people already on staff that can fill in the gaps without compromis-ing our public service. Maybe we replace our city vehicles a lit-tle less often or think about landscaping our city properties and parks with plants that take less maintenance and are still beautiful. I will engage with other communities that have been successful with being debt free or get-ting out of debt to learn from them.

Tina Stewart

EDUCATION: UFV Business Tech with Accounting.

OCCUPATION: Executive Director, ADBA


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Volunteer palliative and bereavement compan-ion at Abbotsford Hos-pice; committee mem-ber - Purple Light Nights Campaign; committee member - FV Diversity and Immigration Part-nership Council

KEY ISSUES: • Development of jobs

that meet or exceed the Living Wage

• Affordable housing; increased medium and high density housing

• Transit

Q&A:1. I believe it is absolutely necessary to fill in the many holes in the list of services Abbotsford does have available, such as detox and a central sys-tem to enquire about and access services that one might need. Typically, when help is needed, citizens don’t know where to turn, and unfortunately become tired of trying. We need to help our marginalized community before they are feeling completely helpless and broken.

Many of our homeless population have sim-ply run into hardship in their life. The lack of affordable housing and job opportunities that meet or exceed the Liv-ing Wage needs to be addressed.

2. Our community can-not thrive if we do not support it. The City needs to be held accountable for their spending hab-its and needs to develop a mandate of local spending if the service/

product is available. Ini-tially, certainly the cost may be slightly higher, but the overall trickle effect on the commu-nity will make up for it with thriving/grow-ing businesses, stronger tax base, more jobs and security for employees.

*Patricia Ross

EDUCATION: Graduate of Leadership for Environment and Development Interna-tional

OCCUPATION: Abbotsford Councillor

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Abbotsford councillor since 1994


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Restorative Justice, Envi-

ronmental Advisory committee, Homeless-ness Task Force, Abbots-ford/Mission Water and Sewer Commission, Working to stop Metro Vancouver from building polluting garbage incin-erators and promote a better way of dealing with waste. Chamber of Commerce committees and Victim Services vol-unteer.

KEY ISSUES: • H o m e l e s s n e s s ,

ensuring everyone has a home.

• Environmental/qual-ity of life threats such as Metro Van-couver’s plans to build a polluting gar-bage incinerator and pipelines

• Taxes, ensuring enough for todays needs and services, while not putting at risk our future

Q&A:1. I support the rec-ommendations of the Homeless Task force, which I participated in as co-chair and their

goal that everyone has

a home.

2. I see our biggest

threat to our tax base

as being the down-

loading from senior

levels of government,

particularly in regards

to infrastructure needs

(more critical as it

ages), which have sub-

stantial financial costs

that local government

does not have the abil-

ity to fund alone. Yet

senior levels are pull-

ing away from funding

those more and more.

If this continues, the

costs to local taxpay-

ers will be substan-

tial. The Federation of

Canadian Municipali-

ties and Union of BC

Municipalities is work-

ing hard to address

this on our behalf, but

I believe we need to

become more involved

and do more to inform

people and engage

organizations.

FROM 29


Authorized by Ralph Payne, Financial Agent • [email protected]

We can make it better. Fiscal responsibility, better capital management, and a progressive welcoming approach to new business, industry and residents will have our city fl ourish and growing into the best city in the province. Together we will make Abbotsford better.

On November 15th we have a choice. We can choose to move forward in a positive manneror dwell on past mistakes and shortchange our future.

I am asking for your vote to help make this positive change. I will work for Abbotsford and for you. Together we will make Abbotsford better. Thank you!

We live in a beautiful city...

ELECT Rick Barkwell

Elect Rick Barkwell for Councilwww.rickbarkwellforabby.ca


David Sahlstrom

EDUCATION: Master of Business Adminstration - MBA, Professional Agrologist (PAg)

OCCUPATION: Partner in bed & break-fast, business consulting


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: MSA Museum Society, Arts Council, donated to various community groups, worked on the HST repeal referendum.

KEY ISSUES:• How candidates will

support their vision and dreams for Abbotsford

• Qualifications of the candidates to carry out the responsibili-ties of councillor.

Q&A:1. Re-examining the decision to hire a Home-less Coordinator as the City has no experience or expertise in this area.

Striking a homeless committee that included homeless representa-tives, the care commu-nities and provincial and federal agencies with the terms of reference to coordinate the work and that the City provide assistance to this com-mittee.

Until adequate housing supply is provided, we need to provide a loca-tion where the homeless could camp and engage the care communities to provide services to it.

- Instruct the APD to end their policy of dis-locating and dispersing while maintaining law enforcement. Until we as a society can provide the needs of this mar-ginalized community, we should not discrimi-nate or harass them.

2. Abbotsford spends money in many areas that are not part of the core responsibilities of local government and we need to examine bylaws, programs and spending to determine how they align with our responsibilities as well

as examining not only immediate costs but the long term benefits and liabilities.

As residents of Abbots-ford we shouldn’t be paying for the costs of development. There is good development and bad development and we should learn to tell the difference so we can say no to the bad devel-opment.

Ross Siemens


EDUCATION: Fraser Valley College and Trinity Western Univer-sity

OCCUPATION: Owner/manager of Hub Motor Service

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Elected at the age of 23 to the District of Abbots-ford Council in 1986 and reelected in 1988.


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Founding member of the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association; served on the Board of Directors of Abbotsford Community Services; serve on the Board of Directors of the Abbots-ford Sports Hall of Fame.

KEY ISSUES:• Homelessness• Debt and infrastruc-

ture deficit.• Economic develop-

ment.

Q&A:1. The city needs to work with senior levels of government and pri-vate sector service pro-viders to work towards housing availability for all our citizens. First we must establish an ACT Team through Fraser Health. An ACT Team is an acronym for Asser-tive Community Treat-ment. These teams are funded by Fraser Health and help to assess an individuals needs where they are on the street. Once a relationship is established and need are assessed appropriate housing and/or treat-ment options can then

be accessed. Secondly, our city must engage and work with B.C. Housing to establish appropriate Housing First locations. A detailed plan to deal with homelessness is on the AbbotsfordFirst web site.

2. Local government must focus on its core responsibilities. Our city has drifted off course by funding large projects that should have been left to the private sec-tor to fund. We need to identify our priorities such as: our infrastruc-ture deficit in regards to roads, sewer and water and focus on sustain-able economic devel-opment. Densification of our urban core and industrial lands is a cost effective way to maxi-mize our existing infra-structure. Developing industrial lands outside of our current develop-ment area should not be considered until proper infilling of our existing industrial properties has been achieved. We should not be taking any lands out of the ALR. Once the Official Com-munity Plan is updated we need to stick to the plan.

Ken Wuschke

EDUCATION: Certificate in Public Safety Communications, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

OCCUPATION:Wooden drawer assem-bler

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE:None

RESIDENCY: Blueridge

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: City of Abbotsford Traf-fic Safety Advisory Committee, member; City of Abbotsford Her-itage Working Group, member; Clearbrook Elementary School PAC, past president; Cycling Abbotsford, past chair; MSA Museum Society, former board mem-ber; Friends of the MSA Centennial Library, past chair; BC Historical Fed-eration, board member; Abbotsford Bicycle Valet, organizer

KEY ISSUES:• Homelessness• Bringing the citizen’s

voice into the com-mittee process

• Paying down debt, maintaining current service levels, invest-ing in infrastructure.

Q&A:1. To create an on-go-ing Homeless Advisory Committee where some members are actu-ally homeless or have recently gained housing after being homeless. To establish three home-less programs where drug addiction recov-ery, mental health, and other reasons that one become homeless are addressed. And to have these streams run by non-profits that focus on these programs. Finally, to have those who go through the homeless streams to have job skills programs available to them so they are able to obtain employment.

2. Presently the munici-pal spending is at a good balance overall. How-ever, we need to find cost saving measures on dif-ferent services. Further

I would like develop a Waste Busters webpage where the public can make recommendations as to where City Hall can save money. People know their neighbour-hood best and often they have great ideas on how to save money.

We have to start plan-ning now to invest wisely in upgrading our current infrastructure as our population grows. Whether it be roads, water mains, or sewer pipes our growing pop-ulation will continue to put stress on this vital part of the city’s func-tions. Further we have to start to develop a replacement plan for existing infrastructure as the water mains and sewer pipes begin to age. One area where City Hall may have to look to spend money is to hire more staff to help shorten the length of time involved in pro-cessing building per-mits.

*Dave Loewen

EDUCATION: S.F.U. - B.A. (Sociology); PDP UVic – M.Ed. (Edu-cational Administration)

OCCUPATION: Retired high school teacher/administrator

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Three terms on Abbots-ford council


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: MCC BC board and executive, including

chair; national and local church commit-tees; Canadian Menno-nite University council chair; director on Fed-eration of Independent Schools Associations Board; Heart2Heart, Haiti board; Mennonite Historical Society of BC Board; member of Abbotsford Rotary Club; member of Level Ground Mennonite Church; par-ticipant in Ken Herar’s ‘Cycling4Diversity’

KEY ISSUES:• Fiscal policies that

build and maintain sustainability - deliv-ering vital services to citizens without jeop-ardizing future capac-ity to deliver same.

• Housing – affordable housing for homeless and those on verge of homelessness

• Safety – support-ing present levels of police and fire safety

Q&A:1. The last “homeless-ness count” revealed that 70% of those inter-viewed said that afford-able housing and/or a greater income would be the solution to their state of homelessness. Therefore, we need to continue pursuing the establishment of low-barrier housing for homeless, while sup-porting initiatives to provide more afford-able housing (eg. Lynn-haven Society project). I will support the efforts of the City’s newly-es-tablished staff position to facilitate collabora-tion between City Hall local Service Providers to address this issue. In the short term, I am prepared to consider a “Dignity Village”, how-ever, I will also state I have some strong res-ervations. There may

be other more viable options.

2. I think our pres-ent city manager has brought with him askill set, which he hasapplied in making some significant coursechanges; changes thathave reduced operat-ing expenses, increased efficiencies, and main-tained present services, allowing us to hold property tax increases near 0%. A modest sur-plus of approximately $10 million has beenrealized in each of thepast two years, and I’mconfident we are on a more fiscally-sustain-able path – poised tocontinue reducing oper-ating expenses, pre-pay-ing debt and holding taxincreases at or near zero.

It must also be notedthat there is a continualdownloading of serviceson local governments, that are not their leg-islated mandate, andwhich I don’t feel will be decreasing. This hasthe effect of putting an increased strain on municipal budgets. Oneexample of this has been the maintenance of our dikes, where the City has paid 55% of $11 million-plus over thelast seven years.

Gerda Peachey

EDUCATION: Halfway through a Bach-elor of Arts, and twoyears of Horticulture atUFV

CONTINUED ON 34

A32 Abbotsford News Friday, November 7, 2014 Abbotsford News Friday, November 7, 2014 A33

LOW TAXES Mayor Banman delivered you a 0% tax increase in 2014. The first 0% tax increase in 18 years. JOBS Mayor Banman has supported job-creating initiatives such as the West Abbotsford Industrial Park that will bring $11 million in annual revenue, $14 million in DCC fees, and 4,500 new jobs for Abbotsford.

DEBT REDUCTION Under Mayor Banman’s leadership we implemented a new 5-year financial plan that will eliminate Abbotsford’s operational debt in 2016.

A SAFER ABBOTSFORD Under Mayor Banman’s leadership we achieved an 11% reduction in crime.

CONTROLLED SPENDING With your help Mayor Banman stopped the expensive Water Project saving Abbotsford more than $345 million. Mayor Banman also put an end to the unsustainable Abbotsford Heat deal saving taxpayers millions of dollars. These two achievements alone mean thousands of dollars in savings for you.

A LEADER DELIVERS

Authorized by Cheryl North, Financial Agent for Bruce Banman, [email protected]

KEEP ABBOTSFORD MOVING FORWARD

RE-ELECT MAYOR BANMAN

NOVEMBER 15


VOTE

Gerda PeacheyFOR [email protected] | 604-852-4650

Municipal government must use taxpayer money to provide and maintain roads, sewers, police, parks, pools, rinks, etc. for local residents.City Hall must expedite applications for building permits and business development. Staff must answer public inquiries in an effi cient and timely manner.City council should not consign taxpayers to heavy debt loads by entering into Big Business or Big Entertainment contracts, beyond their mandate and beyond their expertise.By-laws must be written that are rational, doable and enforceable. Zoning by-laws must be enforced consistently, fairly and without bias — not waiting for the public to complain.Council has approved many development applications asking for relaxed set-backs. So while owners maximize the footprint of their properties, our city is losing the beauty and utility of green space. Trees, bushes, fl owers and grass nurture insects and birds that are pleasing to the eye. But these living creatures are also necessary for pollinating our farms and gardens.We need nine INDIVIDUAL leaders who will carefully study every matter before them, and then act in the best interests of Abbotsford.Mayor and council must open all possible fi nancial dealings to the public, whose tax payments foot the bill for every decision made by City Hall.City Hall works for, and must be accountable to, the boss: the public.

Authorized by Gerda Peachey [email protected]

12ACB3

Authorized by Preet Rai, fi nancial agent - [email protected]

/ReElectPreetRaiwwww.PreetRai.caRE

-ELE

CT Preet RaiSchool TrusteeAbbotsford Board of Education

Children areour future.Support public education.

www.dougrempelabbotsford.comwww.dougrempelabbotsford.com

VOTEVOTEDougDougRempelRempel

Authorized by Financial Agent Doug Rempel

604-859-3141

for council

Integrity

Inclusion

Inspiration


OCCUPATION:Wife, mom, grand-mother, gardner, prison volunteer, musician (off-key)

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE:Also ran four times. Decades of volunteer work for candidates vying for office in fed-eral, provincial and municipal elections.


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Sing hymns with res-idents at seniors homes. Hang out with fellow jammers at local coffee houses. Been part of the local naturalists and the local rock and gem club.

KEY ISSUES:• Tend to the pragmatic

business of running our city,

• Do not sign contracts with big business and big amusements that hurt us financially.

• Write sensible, doable and enforceable by-laws.

Q&A:1. Demand that the senior levels of gov-ernment do their part. Mental health, which is an obvious factor has to be addressed by Fraser Health. Thank the won-derful groups, and indi-viduals who are giving of their time and money to help the helpless Work with them when

possible, but insofar as the courts don’t stand in the way, the pres-ent squalor and dan-ger posed by spreading homeless ‘camps’ must not be allowed. There are empty buildings that would be better than living in the rain and cold and danger of the streets. No housing pro-posal for drug addicted folk can be set up with-out security staff, both for the residents, and for the neighbourhood.

2. The Financial Reports reveal a long list of Con-sultants, who get paid some hefty amounts of our tax dollars. It is not always obvious what these consultants did to earn so much money, and why with almost a thousand people on staff at City Hall, why we should require so much outside expertise. The future looks worse as the current council seems determined to engage more heavily with ‘third-party’ eco-nomic development.

Karen Young

EDUCATION: SFU, Publishing

OCCUPATION: Director of development (fundraising), semi-re-tired


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Board of Governors, past-president of the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce in 2001; Pres-ident, Rotary Club; Pres-ident of the Abbotsford Symphony Orchestra Society (to 2007). Abbots-ford Arts and Heritage Advisory Committee member (2006–11)

KEY ISSUES: • Social inclusion• Fiscal responsibility

and transparency • Customer-focused ser-

vice within city hall

Q&A:1. First, recognize that people who are home-less and at risk of homelessness must be treated with dignity and respect. Set a goal to end homelessness within a defined timeline by pro-viding for (through part-nerships and informed communications) a wide range of solutions that will both assist people who are currently home-less – whether street homeless, sofa-surfing, or living in unsecure housing – and address some of the root causes of Concrete solutions in accordance with guide-lines and outcomes laid out by Council, match-ing best practices, and

with understanding of our community may include a range of the following: staffed, min-imal barriered housing overseen by the non-profit sector; affordable housing appropriate to the health and safety needs of an individual; outreach services to directly assist people to maintain their housing by liaising with land-lords, and assist with maintaining health. Funding will be partner-ship with senior levels of government, health authorities, public Foun-dations and private funding.

2. Spending rises and falls with need. As in any budget, spending is linked to income, and also to the needs of the community. As Abbots-ford grows, spending must increase to keep pace with cost of liv-ing, and with essential services that keep us safe. We must also put money aside for infra-structure upgrades and emergency prepared-ness. And, of course, balance spending with income.

Hank Roos

EDUCATION: High school

OCCUPATION: Retired project manager and estimator


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Served on church and independent school boards. President of the Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club for 12 years.

KEY ISSUES:• Manage growth in a

sustainable way• Homelessness• Attracting new clean

hi-tech industries

Q&A:1. We need to move immediately with approvals for the pro-posed Dignity Village on Valley Road as well as proceeding as fast as possible to still acquire provincial funding for a low barrier 22-bed unit which was available for the previous project but rejected at city hall. Nei-ther of these two proj-ects will bring an end to our current needs how-ever, it is critical that we make a start while continuing to pressure senior governments whose responsibility it is to provide housing and or health care needs.

2. We need to address the current underfund-ing for “arts and culture”. As well we need to start a long term dedicated fund to purchase valu-

able, undeveloped green spaces in the upland areas to address future needs for recreation and to protect valu-able eco-sensitive areas already identified in a biophysical inventory. Other B.C. jurisdictions have done that very suc-cessfully by using such a fund to purchase land when opportunities arise. We seem to be able to find the funds to cre-ate green spaces after land has been rezoned and expensive as for example around Mill Lake. I suggest we might want to learn from the past and be more vision-ary for the future.

Council candidates Ward Draper and Aird Flavelle did not submit responses.

SCHOOL TRUSTEE CANDIDATES* Indicates incumbent

*Rhonda Pauls

EDUCATION: Studied physical edu-

cation and coaching atTrinity Western Univer-sity

POLITICIAN: Youth Sport Official development

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE:3 years as Board of Edu-cation Trustee, one yearvice chair


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:Character Canada Coun-cil; Youth Asset Devel-opment presenter; BC Selects Female Baseball;District Parent AdvisoryCouncil vice-chair, chair;Abbotsford Angels Hard-ball Association umpire-in-chief; Baseball Can-ada umpire instructor;British Columbia Base-ball Umpires Associa-tion; community/schoolsport coach

KEY ISSUES:• Importance of focus

on early learning. A student’s long term success can be pre-dicted by the time he/she is in grade 3. We need to ensure that insuch a diverse com-munity where our students come to usspeaking dozens of different languages and bring varying life experiences to the classroom, we are able to bring them all to a place where they can have success.We need to continuebuilding Strong Start/Kindergarten readi-

FROM 31


BUILDING TRUST BUILDING COMMUNITY

www.ken4council.caAuthorized by Ken Wuschke, fi nancial agent, [email protected]

A better Abbotsford for working families

Creating a strong foundation for the next 20 years

Finding fi scal balance to maintain the city’s service levels

A Positive Voice, For Positive Change!

Karen

YOUNG

Nov.15th Elect

City CouncilAuthorized by fi nancial Agent Karen Young.

[email protected] • www.karenyoung.info

“Balbir’s experience in the library fi eld and his keen interest in promoting literacy for our youth, make him an ideal candidate for school trustee. I’m pleased to support him in the November 15 election.”

- Ralph Payne

Authorized by Financial Agent Maninder Gill. 604-614-2442

• ROTARIAN • VOLUNTEER • LITERACY ADVOCATE • COMMUNITY LEADER

“Balbir wants the best for children in our schools.”

ELECT BALBIR GILLSCHOOL TRUSTEE

TARIAN VOLUNTEER

2014SCHOOL TRUSTEE CANDIDATES election!

ness options, expand co-teaching in pri-mary classrooms for English Language Learners, develop more resources for supporting the men-tal health issues we see escalating in our young students, and work to equip our families to support students in the home.

• Need for teacher training. The number one determinant of a student’s success in school is the effective-ness of the teacher. The diversity of stu-dents we are now seeing in every class-room calls for a move towards teachers having the ability to differentiate instruc-tion within each class, be equipped to sup-port students with special needs in the classroom, and be proficient in scaffold-ing English language learners instruction during regular class-room instruction.We need to con-tinue to develop and train educators in co-teaching models in our classrooms, create more oppor-tunity for shared best practice among teachers, teacher mentoring partner-ships, and work with our post-secondary institutions to ensure our new teachers are

graduating with the adaptability skills our every changing sys-tems now demands.

*Stan Petersen

EDUCATION: BSc, MEd, EdD

OCCUPATION: Retired

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Incumbent school trustee (one term)


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Vice president of Abbots-ford Youth Commission; member Clearbrook Kiwanis; Sports Hall of Fame selection commit-tee chair; chair of Hands Up for the Community; committee member of the Abbotsford City Police Basketball Tour-nament; chair of the AbbyFest organizing committee; Parks, Recre-ation, and Culture com-missioner; board mem-ber for the Reach; board member of Abbotsford Restorative Justice and Advocacy Association; board member of Char-acter Abbotsford.

KEY ISSUES:• Abbotsford is a great

school district. We

have strong leader-ship and excellent teachers and support staff. We have great support from parents and our community. Our students excel in their classrooms and in the many opportu-nities provided in our district.

• Our challenge is to find more ways to support the growing diversity in our classrooms. We need to add more classroom resources and we need to sup-port our teachers to address this diversity. We need to continue to partner with com-munity agencies in supporting all of our students. We need to continue with our early childhood edu-cation agenda so that all students have a strong start to their educational experi-ence. We need to cre-ate an individualized education for every student so that each can find his or her passion and success.

• Our challenge is also to continue to improve communi-cation with all our educational stake-holders. Our teachers, support staff, parents, and our community need to feel confi-dent in the direction of the board and have input in setting this direction. Teamwork

and collaboration are essential.

• I believe that I have the experience and passion to address these challenges and make our great school district even better. I look for your support on Nov. 15.

*Cindy Schafer

EDUCATION: College Diploma

OCCUPATION: Interior Designer

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Incumbent school trustee

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Past PRCC chair and commissioner; District Parent Advisory Council chair; Traffic and Safety Advisory Committee member; Abbotsford Community Founda-tion Awards commit-tee member; numerous School District commit-tees; BC School Trustee Association representa-tive and finance com-mittee member.

KEY ISSUES: • Voters should con-

sider candidates who understand the role of

elected School Trust-ees and understand the governance work of an elected Board of Education. Repre-sentatives are elected by the community, on behalf of the com-munity, to provide accountability and oversight to public education. Boards of Education have legislated responsi-bilities to fulfill, such as, submission of the Annual Budget and Student Achievement Contract. Setting pol-icy is board work and is ongoing, as views and needs change and are addressed through policy devel-opment. Visiting schools (when appro-priate), participating in student and school celebrations, and see-ing our students grad-uate is rewarding and gratifying work of a Trustee.

• Voters should consider candidates who will advocate broadly for public education at all levels of government and through provin-cial and national orga-nizations who impact the work of boards.

• As current Chair of the Abbotsford Board of Education, it has been my privilege to be an elected trustee for the past nine years, including six years as Chair. I share

the vision of providing a world-class, inno-vative, and individ-ualized educational experience for every student. I have been, and will continue to be a strong advocate for public education, keeping the best inter-ests of students, their families and the com-munity in mind, while conducting board business. Thank you, Cindy Schafer, School Trustee.

*Shirley Wilson

EDUCATION: Final stages of BA in Adult Education at UFV

OCCUPATION: Contract fund develop-ment and leadership in the charity and non-profit sector. Previous employment includes BBBS of the Fraser Valley and the FV Child Devel-opment Centre.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Elected to Board of Edu-cation in 2005 (three terms served); director with BC Public School Employers Association (2012-2013).


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Rotary Club of Abbots-ford; Peer Reviewer (accreditation) with ImagineCanada.ca; var-ious liaison roles withBoard of Education; vol-unteering with local orregional boards, local, provincial and nationalevents; and liaising withmany children and fam-ilies serving charities inAbbotsford and the Fra-ser Valley.

KEY ISSUES:Student success: Everychild counts. I recentlyheard a speaker talk about the difference between “each” and “all”.We can talk about want-ing to ensure all children meet with success. Buta much more laudable goal is to ensure each child meets their ownpotential. Our work at the Board of Education demonstrates this.

We provide additionalresources to studentswho need support, butmay not be eligible for additional provin-cial funding. We wanteach student supportedin their learning. Weunderstand we needto do more to respond early to the needs of each child. We organizeour various staff beyond teachers and principalsfrom custodians to edu-cational assistants to secretaries to bus driversand more, utilizing our

CONTINUED ON 36


Re-Elect

MOEGILLFor Council

• Support the Cultural Groups and Activities in Abbotsford

• Work to Build a Strong and Vibrant Community

• Support Balanced Economic Prosperity of Abbotsford

• Maintain Dyking and DrainageSystem and Prevention of Flooding

COMMITMENT & EXPERIENCE


604.746.1138Cell: 604.807.1531

Authorized by Manbir Banwait, Financial Agent 778-241-4472

12ACB3

Authorized by Freddy Latham, fi nancial agent - [email protected]

/FreddyLathamwwww.FreddyLatham.ca

ELEC

T Freddy LathamSchool TrusteeAbbotsford Board of Education


election!2014 SCHOOL TRUSTEE CANDIDATES

funding appropriately to stretch each dollar…not stretch the individual.

Board Governance: We are entering a four year term in a time when change for Boards will be certain. Who you vote for will impact decision making both locally and provincially. Are boards going away? Not likely, but certainly the role we play now may change.

Abbotsford is respected as a board as we are sound financially and understand our role. As a member of a board which implemented a strategic plan, we work with the end in mind to prepare students for a lifetime of success. We plan in a fiscally prudent and financially sustain-able manner. We work well with what we have.

With shifting demo-graphics in our work-force and in our fami-lies, it is important to maintain solid decision making and consistency at the board table.

Phil Anderson

EDUCATION: Completed high school in Edmonton and gradu-ated from NAIT (North-ern Alberta institute of technology)

OCCUPATION: Retired in 2013. Busi-ness owner (Ambassa-dor Auto Repairs) for 30 years (sold business in 2014). Heavy duty mechanic by trade.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: School Board trustee for nine years in Lloydmin-ster, Alberta/Saskatche-wan. One year as board chair.

RESIDENCY: Abbotsford.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Involved in my local church; head up the ‘First Contact’ area.

KEY ISSUES: • Class sizes too large for

an individual teacher.• Children with spe-

cial needs, like ADHD and other needs that may be disruptive in the class setting, need specialty classes geared to helping them get an educa-tion.

• Trustees need to be a link between the classroom and the community. Education is a stepping stone to the work force or further education. We need to be preparing students for either choice.

*Preet Rai

EDUCATION: Chartered Accountant (India)

OCCUPATION: Auditor for B.C. govern-ment.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Elected trustee for two terms in 2008 and 2011.


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:The Reach board; Lit-eracy Matters board; Community of Char-acter board; Abbyfest board; MSA Museum board; Cycling for Diver-sity; Sister City commit-tee; Abbotsford Youth commission; Canuck Place campaign exec-utive committee; orga-nizer of Abby Fest vol-unteers; chair of the finance committee for the school district.

KEY ISSUES: • I am thankful to the

administrators, teach-ers, support staff in helping the district achieve new heights and due to their hard work and dedication we as a district are leading the province in many areas. How-

ever, there is always room for improving educational experi-ences for our children.

• I have been serv-ing on the Board of Education for the last six years as a school trustee. There are a number of things that the school district is working on to further improve and provide excellent education to our kids. The two areas that I think we need to further focus on are 21st century individualized learn-ing and how to be more flexible and have more choice available.

• Technological inno-vations have been developing at a rapid pace. It is time to take advantage of this and while many resources and supports are available for students, we can always be fur-ther working on the needs of students and the staff. We can ensure that students have the tools to learn at their own pace, a pace that they feel comfortable at and which maximizes their individual learn-ing capacities. We can work on educating them towards careers that they will excel in and ultimately ensure their individual learn-ing success.

• All students should

have the opportu-nity and flexibility to access programs and services of their choice. We have Inte-grated Arts schools, traditional schools, trade programs, var-ious languages being offered, academies like hockey, aviation available as choices. These successful programs plus more choices reflecting the needs of students should be available. Creating a broad learning environment goes a very long way in ensuring that every single student is suc-cessful.

Noah Arney

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Education (UBC); Bachelor of Arts (UFV)

OCCUPATION: Student Advisor, Native Education College

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Involved in student gov-ernment at UFV


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Four years on the exec-

utive of a local not-for-profit educational asso-ciation, two as the pres-ident.

KEY ISSUES: • C o m m u n i c a t i o n

with Abbotsford res-idents: Communica-tion should be open, accessible, easy, and two way. We should be doing everything in our power to have as much local input on school board deci-sions as possible. Edu-cation is the interest of every citizen and we should be doing a better job of ensur-ing that the whole city is aware of and able to give feedback on current issues. One example of how communication failed was in the proposed pay increase (trustee indemnity) for School Trustees. If communi-cation had been bet-ter both ways the end result would either have been voting against the increase or the board would have been able to better explain why they feel it was needed.

• Although the current board is very good at ensuring that infor-mation about school and community activ-ities programs and events are dissemi-nated the information coming out about the board’s decisions is limited to the news-

letter and the meeting minutes. Informationabout topics beforethe board should beeasily accessible and published in multi-ple venues including through the district’ssocial media ahead of meeting times.

• Advocating with theprovincial govern-ment: The schoolboard needs to be apublic advocate for education and shouldbe representing thediverse needs of ourcommunity. The pur-pose of the school board system is toallow a measure of local control over localeducation and to bea voice for the com-munity to the govern-ment regarding edu-cation. Otherwise thegovernment mightas well abolish theelected school boards and replace themwith local appointed school boards. The school trustees need to take the concernsof the community andensure that they arebeing listened to.

Balbir Gill

EDUCATION: M.A.

OCCUPATION: Librarian

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Ran for School Trusteein 2011


COMMUNITY ACTIVITY:Volunteer with Abbots-ford Connect, Abbots-ford Salvation Army,Canucks Place.Executive member for last 13 years for various parents advisory com-mittees; Representative of Punjabi Parents of Tra-ditional Schools; Abbots-ford Sumas Rotary member; helped estab-lish and maintain LittleFree Libraries; United Way Fraser Valley Board member and ImpactCommittee Chair; Abbotsford Youth Com-mission Board member; Mentor for Gladwin Lan-guage Centre; Organiz-

FROM 35


CindySCHAFER

RE-ELECT

for

School Trustee• Experienced• Innovative• Hardworking• Common Sense

ApproachAuthorized by C. Schafer Financial Agent

[email protected]

12ACB3

Authorized by Stan Petersen, fi nancial agent - [email protected]

/StanPetersenAbbotsfordwwww.StanPetersen.caRE

-ELE

CT

Stan PetersenSchool TrusteeAbbotsford Board of Education



ing member of annual village reunion; Member of Punjabi Development; Sikh Heritage Museum committeeVolunteer as a cross-ing guard; volunteered for the 2010 Olympics at the Richmond Oval; relay For Life Commit-tee (Canadian Cancer Society); Abbotsford City Neighbourhood Committee; Member of Sister City Committee; Abbotsford Food Bank volunteer; Member of Abbotsford City Diver-sity Committee; Direc-tor of the Fraser Valley Indo-Canadian Business Association; Founding Member of Fraser Val-ley Cultural Diversity Committee; Abbotsford School District Punjabi language committee

KEY ISSUES:• Literacy: Being a librar-

ian for more than 20 years I have seen firsthand students in Abbotsford who are falling behind in read-ing, writing, and digi-tal literacy. They don’t have adequate access or don’t know how to access technology, library resources or to qualified help. I will work hard to pro-vide those resources needed within the district. I don’t want any students to fall through the cracks. Students need books that appeal to them, they need to have easy access to tech-nology that they can learn and understand, they also need adult mentors and support staff to help guide them and help them become leaders of tomorrow. Let’s pro-vide students with what they need to succeed and make it easy and desirable for them to access that help.

• Communication / Lis-tening: We need to not only care, communi-cate and listen to our teachers, but also our students, parents (guardians), adminis-tration and support staff. We as trust-ees need to develop a way to be effective communicators and partners with our teachers, students, parents and schools. We as trustees need to support, listen and genuinely care for our

teachers. It is not us vs them, we should be a team working together for the same goals. Those goals should be to make Abbotsford the best it can be! I can and will communicate to and listen to our teach-ers, students, parents, administrators, sup-port staff and the citi-zens of Abbotsford.

Tadeusz Kuczynski

EDUCATION: High School, Master in Martial Arts

OCCUPATION: Proprietor and Instruc-tor at Nam Institute of Tai Chi Chuan

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE:Five years at the Board of Directors at Abbotsford Arts Council


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT DJ volunteer at CIVL 101.7 FM

KEY ISSUES:• Courage to represent

honesty and transpar-ency. Those issues are basic necessity in the process of education. I would activate every cultural channel to bring those issues into attention of public.

Freddy Latham

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Education (UBC) Majors in English/Theatre

OCCUPATION: Artistic Director, Abbots-ford Children’s Theatre; retired educator


COMMUNITY ACTIVITY: Chair, Parks, Recreation & Culture Commission; member, Arts & Heritage Advisory Committee; Canada Day commit-

tee member; Facilitator for joint project “We All Have A Story To Tell” stories of immigrants in Abbotsford; Ceremo-nies chair, 2008 Special Olympics; 2004 BC Sum-mer Games; 2002 Dis-ability Games & 1995 Western Canada Sum-mer Games.

KEY ISSUES: • Advocating for sup-

port of Public Edu-cation. As a Board of Education Trustee I would be visible, approachable and more vocal in advo-cating for the needs of all children. I would encourage more organizations and community mem-bers to partner with the school district to enhance existing pro-grams and develop new ones. I would listen and support teachers, administra-tors and support staff to develop better rela-tionships with them. I would build stron-ger partnerships with City Council so we can work together for the benefit of school community. In my current role as Chair of Parks, Recreation and Culture I have worked successfully with trustees, council members and public representatives and bring that leadership experience to the Board of Education.

• Insufficient funding to meet the needs of all students. Class size compounded with increasing numbers of designated and undesignated stu-dents is an ongoing issue in our schools. I would work collabo-ratively with local and Provincial Trustees on this issue as I believe the children of B.C. deserve funding equal to the rest of Canada. Gaining support from the provincial govern-ment is critical and I would be lobbying for support of more fund-ing for public educa-tion. I believe the role of the trustees is to ensure that the learn-ing needs of all chil-dren in public school are being met. It is only with the highest level of co-operation that we can maxi-mize and enhance the limited resources

provided to help our children achieve their goals.

Kamal Gill

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science

OCCUPATION: Farmer and Occupa-tional First aid attendant

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Help candidates and ran in 2008 elections


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Volunteering for the last 31 years where ver I felt I was needed, when my children at school, I was on the pac or helped pac volunteered at commu-nity services.

KEY ISSUES:• In order to focus on the

problems of students and parents, I have decided to run for a school trustee office in the upcoming elec-tions. I hope to better interpret parents and students’ concerns to the school board. Con-cerns such as our chil-dren’s safety, bullying, and most importantly this rising drug issues the whole Abbotsford community faces today. I would like to ensure each child is getting a equal oppor-tunity for a safe and healthy education. My goal is to see imple-mentation of pro-grams in schools that start at a earlier age of a students’ life, so they can learn early on to make better choices and accom-modate them into their lifestyle. In order to do this however, I need the support of the Abbotsford com-munity.

• We need to work together to create clear communication between parents, staff, pacs and the school board. I believe that there is a always a solution to every prob-lem, no matter the severity of it.

• Abbotsford is a diverse community and I am always trying to get

a better understand-ing of every culture in order to communicate effectively with every parent. Being a mother I listen to the voices of mothers that are not heard. If the whole community gets together, anything is possible. If elected, I would like to see a peaceful, respectful and safe environment for students, teach-ers, and parents. Our children deserve the best. United we stand, divided we fall.

Graham MacDonell

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Arts journal-ism, teaching certificate

OCCUPATION: Professional genealogist

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: School trustee, Surrey school district – 1978-1979


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:Abbotsford Genealogical Society; MSA Museum Society; Fraser Valley Heritage Fair judge and presenter; Culture days – MSA Museum Society.

KEY ISSUES:• As excerpted from

the British Columbia School Trustees Asso-ciation website, the role of a school trustee

is the following: “Brit-ish Columbians elect their Boards of Edu-cation to improve student achieve-ment according to the diverse needs of these communities. (Education-related issue number one.) As locally-elected representatives, the trustees best under-stand their respective communities’ partic-ular strengths, chal-lenges and demands. Trustees engage their communities in build-ing and maintaining a school system that reflects local priorities, values and expecta-tions. (Education-re-lated issue number two.) School trustees listen to their commu-nities; guide the work of their school district; and, set plans, poli-cies and the annual budget. (Trustees challenge number one.) Reflecting the strength of local rep-resentation, boards report back to their communities on how students are doing; boards are directly accountable to the people they serve. (Trustees challenge number two.)

• Regarding educa-tion-related issue number one, Abbots-ford School District’s Board of Education needs to attend to a

recent drop in studentachievement in a num-ber of areas as shownby the “District Plan for Student Success”, and needs to put mea-sures in place to fulfilltheir role: to improve achievement for all learners (with twoobjectives); to improve graduation rates (withsix objectives). When it comes to Abbots-ford students’ pro-vincial exams results, the Plan addresses student achievement deficiencies and areasfor improvement in anumber of subjects, including Reading,Writing and Numer-acy. Regarding edu-cation-related issue number two, Abbots-ford trustees need to engage more with their community part-ners in building and maintaining a schoolsystem that reflectslocal priorities, val-ues and expectations.Recent concerns onthis issue are in fund-ing, resource allocationand more support forspecial needs studentsand communicating more effectively with parents such as overthe length of theschool break and withDistrict’s teachers on their position regard-ing the impact of astrike.

CONTINUED ON 39


Abbotsford Needs a Change

Follow Us

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

DEBT

PROPERTY TAX INCREASE(2006-2013)

7.4%

43% +

PROPERTY TAX RATE(per $1000 assessed value)

ABBOTSFORD SURREYDELTA COQUITLAMLANGLEY

7.9 5.7 5.6 5.4 4.7WATER RATE INCREASE(2010-2012)

83% +

$102 MILLION

+

($78 MILLION Capital Projects

$24 MILLION owed to DCC’s)

Source: Statistics Canada (Oct. 2014)

Source: Govt of BC – http://www.cscd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/infra/statistics_index.htm

Highest in Western Canada

Source: www.abbotsford.caSource: Department of Engineering City of Abbotsford

Source: 2013 City of Abbotsford Financial Statements

• Treat your money as if it were our own.

• Create a business friendly environment in

our city.• Focus on debt reduction and fiscal

prudence.

• Minimize tax, water and other rate

increases.

It’s about the economyJoin our team on Nov 15th

FOR CITY COUNCIL

AbbotsfordFIRST believes it is incredibly import-ant that City Councillors understand Financial Statements. They must understand the reasons why they are making the decisions they are making. Deferring decision making to city staff can no longer be the norm.

We have brought together a team to analyze the financial position of the city including Chartered Accountant, Eric Nyvall. Years ago, he articled at the very same firm that acts as the City’s auditor and ensures that the financial statements are presented according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). We also have numerous business owners in our volunteer base and advisory board. 1. Housing starts before 2009 averaged 1100 per year. After that it has been abysmal... 2009 (365), 2010 (516), 2011 (537), 2012 (371), 2013 (749). Comparing 2013, our best year in the last 5 to 2008, we see a 40% decrease in housing starts. If you’ve managed our local economy so favour-ably, where has all the investment gone? Can you account for this decrease in performance? (Source: Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp)2. Total debt – AbbotsfordFIRST considers monies borrowed from DCCs a deficit. Our cities debt therefore, from our perspective is about $102 million dollars. This includes $78.4 million (capital projects) and $24 million (DCCs). Why do

current councillors not acknowledge the $24 million internally borrowed (DCCs) as part of our cities debt. This money was largely spent on the 2 overpasses on Hwy 1 and those overpasses were not in the city’s budget. This means we have taken money out of our DCC fund that should have been spent on other roads, infrastructure upgrades and expansions. That other work still needs to be done. This is called an infrastructure deficit. Every time you take future DCC money and use it to pay for this expenditure of the past, you are not paying off debt, you are simply paying off one credit card with another. At the end of the day, taxpayers will be burdened with this rolling liability. How will you deal with this infrastructure deficit of $24 million?3. Additionally, the idea of paying off current DCC debt with future DCC revenue has led Council to raising DCC’s to the highest rate we can find in the Valley. Our DCC rate is approximately $29,000 per lot, whereas Langley is $21,000 and Burnaby is $7,000. The result has been a huge downturn in housing starts. In 2008, we had 1285 starts. In 2012, we had 371 and 2013 we had 749. In 2013, the City projected $18 million in DCC revenue and it only collected $3 million. How was that revenue made up? All depart-ments set their budgets against expected revenue so when $15 million doesn’t come in, something must be cut. What was cut?4. Many councillors mention a strong cash position. Any excess cash coming to the City of Abbotsford is due to “inflated” DCC’s, an 80% + increase in Water

Rates from 2010 to 2012, a 43% Property Tax increase since 2006. Taxing your citizens to pay for your mistakes is not strength. Can you clarify for the citizens of Abbotsford why these rate increases are so high if your stated surplus and financial position is so strong?5. Last year when the City of Abbotsford was thinking about giving the YMCA $17.5 million, the Finance Department issued a report to Council stating clearly that they only had $14 million available, and then they offered alternatives on how to make up the difference. Why did so many of you support this irresponsible expenditure of tax payers hard earned monies?6. With one of the highest Property Tax rates in the Province of BC, with the highest unemploy-ment rate in Western Canada, with dwindling housing starts and many businesses closing, and a 9 year track record of nearly every major economic indicator resulting in a decline, what are you going to do to stimulate Abbotsford’s economy? Please post your plans for the economic development of Abbotsford. As sitting councillors, you have far more access to informa-tion and a comprehensive plan would be appreci-ated.7. The City of Abbotsford committed to giving the Abbotsford Heat $5.5 million to leave our city. Where is that money coming from? What will be cut to provide that capital? It wasn’t in our budget so it is “new” money. Where will it come from?8. If your answer is from the Surplus you are generating from “inflated” taxes and rates (language used by your own Finance Department in 2013), the result has been a city with one of the lowest growth rates in the Lower Mainland. How will you rectify this lack of performance and attract business, investors and jobs?

Some Questions for OurCurrent City Council

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by:

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VOTETINA

STEWART

City Council

Together we can preserve what is great about Abbotsford and make it an even better place to live, work and raise a family

in the future.

Authorized by Tami Abra, Financial Agent, [email protected]

@iamtinastewart [email protected]

SIDHUDaljit Singh

On Nov. 15, VOTELet your voice be heard!

778-552-7654Authorized by Daljit Sidhu, Financial Agent - [email protected]


“The emphasis here is

not the long litany of

things to be done, rather

how the money is spent

doing them.”{Languages Spoken:

EnglishPunjabiHindiCantonese

MAIN OBJECTIVES Crime Reduction - Youth at Risk New Business Development - Job Creation Reduce Homelessness - Aff ordable Housing Develop Recrational Facilities Public Transit Property Tax Sustainable Agriciulture

EXPERIENCE Vice-Chairperson for Credit Union Chairperson, Audit Committee, 2014 Chairperson, C.S.R. Committee Chairperson, Nomination Committee Water Watch Spokesperson - P3 Project Culture Association

for COUNCIL

www.daveloewen.comFollow me on twitter @DaveFLoewenFacebook: DaveFLoewenAuthorized by F.A. D. Loewen; [email protected]

Re-electDAVE LOEWENFor CouncilExperience You Can Trust

Building A StrongCommunity Together

“Dave Loewen and Bill MacGregor, both councillors with the City of Abbotsford, have helped take Cycling4Diversity to a new level with their participation. Dave Loewen is so passionate and community minded. Dave and Bill give us a stronger voice and added credibility.”

~ Ken Herar, Cycling4Diversity Founder


Kirpa Mann

EDUCATION: BA in Psychology and Social Equity, Masters of Education, Curric-ulum Development (Candidate)

OCCUPATION: CEO of manufacturing business

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Have engaged with civic, provincial and federal policies on education, immigra-tion and community development.


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Co-founded and co-created the very

first South-Asian Men-torship Program, called SOURCE, which was implemented in four elementary schools and four high schools in Surrey and Vancou-ver.

KEY ISSUES:• Bridging commu-

nity partnership. We need to begin the healing process. In order for the school district to achieve success all part-ners must be work-ing in collaboration towards the same goals. For this, strong communication, col-laborative strategy planning and solu-tion-oriented dis-cussions must take place – where every-one is heard with the utmost integrity, respect and genu-ine positive regard. Knowing that the success of the city is reflected solely in the success of all participants: teach-ers, parents, stu-

dents and admin-istration alike, we must begin to build a bridge for those relationships to heal and come together. This will only be possible if we begin to hear the needs of those on the frontline, take their concerns and expe-riences seriously, acknowledge them and work together moving forward.

• Research based pro-gram implemen-tation. We must include all partners in this process; thus, make sure that teachers, parents and administration are a part of the pro-cess. They should have a chance to learn about plans with transparency, voice concerns, suggest improve-ments- see sugges-tions and improve-ments through – and then be a part of the implementation, as a part of the team

that is making new and better pro-gramming and sys-tems possible. It is incumbent to utilize research and applied program implemen-tation strategies for the strategic plan outlined for the next four years in order to use funds most effectively and to gain the outcomes initially intended to be achieved.

Linda Matties

EDUCATION: Master of Divinity from Mennonite Breth-ren Biblical Seminary in Fresno

OCCUPATION: Mostly retired. Worked for School District 34 primarily as a teacher

librarian for 31 years. Worked at Trinity Western University as a faculty assistant for 3 years.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:Volunteer at The ReachMember of Emman-uel Mennonite Church where I lead a Bible study group and prayer activities. I have served on the church council andam a board mem-ber for provincial and national level church activities.

KEY ISSUES:• To open the minds

of our children and youth for the jour-ney of life we need trustees who: under-stand the educa-tion system; care passionately about teaching and learn-ing; are able to think creatively to make

the system work better; are willing to advocate for funds and other resources to enable teachers to teach and students to learn.

• This plaque was given to me a num-ber of years ago. It expresses what I feel education in our schools should be all about. I have spent enough years working in educa-tion to understand the system well. As someone who loves learning I want oth-ers to share that love. My experience in the education sys-tem is such that I have learned to dis-cern between edu-cation policies that work well and those that don’t work well. Sometimes the less acceptable policies can be made to work with creative appli-cation. There have been complaints about lack of funding and other resources

for many decadesnow. It is unaccept-able that teachersare spending largesums of personalmoney buying theresources they needfor teaching. Thereneeds to be somecreative thinkingaround how exist-ing funds are allo-cated as well as how new funds might befound.

School trustee candidates Harold Kokot and Kevin Pedersen did not submit responses.

FROM 37

FOR MORE ELECTION COVERAGE VISIT

ABBYNEWS.COM

VOTENOV. 15


Election by voting will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2014, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., toelect candidates for a four-year term, commencing December, 2014, for the offices of Mayor, Councillor, and School Trustee. The following are declared as candidates for:

MAYOR CITY OF ABBOTSFORD

One (1) to be elected

LAST NAME FIRST NAME ELECTOR ORGANIZATION ADDRESS

BANMAN Bruce City of Abbotsford BRAUN Henry City of Abbotsford

COUNCILLOR CITY OF ABBOTSFORD

Eight (8) to be elected


BARKMAN Les City of Abbotsford BARKWELL Rick City of Abbotsford BLUE Sandy AbbotsfordFIRST Electoral Society City of Abbotsford BRECKENRIDGE James W. City of Abbotsford BUE Dan City of Abbotsford BUTTAR Raji City of Abbotsford CALDWELL Lyle City of Abbotsford CHAHAL Kelly AbbotsfordFIRST Electoral Society City of Abbotsford DIMANNO Vince AbbotsfordFIRST Electoral Society City of Abbotsford DRAPER Ward City of Abbotsford FALK Brenda AbbotsfordFIRST Electoral Society City of Abbotsford FELGER Tim City of Abbotsford FLAVELLE Aird Abbotsford Greens City of Abbotsford GILL Moe City of Abbotsford KOBES Raymond City of Abbotsford LOEWEN Dave City of Abbotsford LOEWEN Nathan Abbotsford Greens City of Abbotsford MACGREGOR Bill City of Abbotsford PEACHEY Gerda City of Abbotsford POWER Marlisa City of Abbotsford REDEKOPP Paul City of Abbotsford REMPEL Doug City of Abbotsford ROOS Hank Abbotsford Greens City of Abbotsford ROSS Patricia City of Abbotsford SAHLSTROM David City of Abbotsford SIDHU Daljit Singh City of Abbotsford SIEMENS Ross AbbotsfordFIRST Electoral Society City of Abbotsford STEWART Tina City of Abbotsford WUSCHKE Ken City of Abbotsford YOUNG Karen City of Abbotsford

SCHOOL TRUSTEE ABBOTSFORD SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 34

Seven (7) to be elected


ANDERSON Phil City of Abbotsford ARNEY Noah Dwain City of Abbotsford GILL Balbir S. City of Abbotsford GILL Kamal City of Abbotsford KOKOT Harold City of Abbotsford KUCZYNSKI Tadeusz City of Abbotsford LATHAM Freddy City of Abbotsford MACDONELL Graham Evan City of Abbotsford MANN Kirpa Punam Kaur City of Abbotsford MATTIES Linda City of Abbotsford PAULS Rhonda City of Abbotsford PEDERSEN Kevin City of Abbotsford PETERSEN Stan City of Abbotsford RAI Preet S. City of Abbotsford SCHAFER Cindy City of Abbotsford WILSON Shirley City of Abbotsford

ADVANCE VOTING OPPORTUNITIES

There will be three Advance Voting opportunities, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., on the following dates:

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 Ag-Rec Building, Main Floor 32470 Haida Drive Thursday, November 6, 2014 Ag-Rec Building, Main Floor 32470 Haida Drive

Saturday, November 8, 2014 Chief Dan George Middle School

32877 Old Riverside Road

Voting Divisions

Municipal Voting Divisions will be used in this election and an elector can only vote within the division in which they are a resident. During the week of October 24, 2014, a Voter Notification Card will be mailed, to each elector household advising of their voting location. A map showing the Voting Division boundaries and the specific voting location within that division is available on the City’s website at www.abbotsford.ca/election.

The following is a list of all the Voting Places:

1. Abbotsford Christian Middle School 35011 Old Clayburn Road

10. Matsqui Elementary School33661 Elizabeth Avenue

2 Abbotsford Middle School 33231 Bevan Avenue

11. Mountain Elementary School 2299 Mountain Drive

3. Aberdeen Elementary School 2975 Bradner Road

12. Rick Hansen Secondary School 31150 Blueridge Drive

4. Bakerview Centre for Learning 32622 Marshall Road

13. Sandy Hill Elementary School 3836 Sandy Hill Road

5. Blue Jay Elementary School 30995 Southern Drive

14. South Poplar Traditional Elementary Scho 32746 Huntingdon Road

6. Bradner Community Hall 5305 Bradner Road

15 Terry Fox Elementary School 3071 Babich Street

7. Chief Dan George Middle School 32877 Riverside Road

16. Upper Sumas Elementary School 36321 Vye Road

8. Clearbrook Elementary School 3614 Clearbrook Road

17. Yale Secondary School 34620 Old Yale Road

9. Garden Park Tower 2825 Clearbrook Road

18. WJ Mouat Secondary School 32355 Mouat Drive

Please bring two (2) pieces of identification (accepted identification listed below) with you. All voting places are wheelchair accessible. If you are unable to enter the voting place due to a physical disability or impaired mobility, you may contact the Presiding Election Official at the voting place on General Voting Day to make arrangements for you to vote at the curbside of the voting place.

ELECTOR REGISTRATION

Resident Electors If your name does not appear on the List of Registered Electors, you will be required to register on voting day, by completing the required application form available at your voting place. To register you must meet the following qualifications:

you are 18 years of age or more on general voting day;

you are a Canadian citizen;

you have lived in B.C. for at least six (6) months before you register;

you have lived in the City of Abbotsford for 30 days or more before you register to vote; and

you are not disqualified from voting by any statute or law.

Types of Documents that will be accepted as identification You must produce at least two (2) documents that provide evidence of your identity and place of residence, at least one (1) of which must contain your signature. The types of documents that will be accepted as identification include:

(a) a British Columbia Driver’s Licence;

(b) a British Columbia Identification Card within the meaning of the Identification Card Regulation;

(b.1) a photo BC services card within the meaning of the Identification Card Regulation;

(b.2) a non-photo BC services card within the meaning of the Identification Card Regulation;

(c) an Owner’s Certificate of Insurance and Vehicle Licence issued by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia;

(d) a British Columbia CareCard or British Columbia Gold CareCard;

(e) a Ministry of Social Development and Economic Security Request for Continued Assistance Form SDES8;

(f) a Social Insurance Number card or confirmation of Social Insurance Number letter issued by the government of Canada;

(g) a Citizenship Card issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada;

(h) a real property tax notice issued under section 369 of the Local Government Act or section 21 of the Taxation (Rural Area) Act;

(i) a credit card or debit card issued by a savings institution as defined in section 29 of the Interpretation Act; or

(j) a utility bill issued for the supply of electricity, natural gas, water, telephone services or coaxial cable services by

(i) a public utility as defined in section 1 of the Utilities Commission Act;(ii) a gas utility as defined in section 1 of the Gas Utility Act;(iii) a water utility as defined in section 1 of the Water Act;(iv) the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority; or (v) a corporation licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and

Telecommunications Commission for the purposes of the supply.

Non-Resident Property Electors If you own property in the City of Abbotsford but reside outside the boundaries of the City, you may qualify to vote in the Abbotsford City 2014 General Local Election.

Non-resident property electors must produce at least two (2) documents that provide evidence of your identity and place of residence, at least one (1) of which must contain your signature. The types of documents that will be accepted include those listed above for Resident Electors.

In addition, proof that you are entitled to register in relation to the property in the City of Abbotsford; and, if applicable, written consent from a majority of the other registered owners of the property, will also be required. You may only register as a non-resident property elector in relation to one (1) parcel of real property in the City of Abbotsford. No corporation is entitled to be registered as an elector or have a representative registered as an elector and no corporation is entitled to vote.

You may register in advance at Abbotsford City Hall, 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC, during regular business hours 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, excluding Statutory Holidays).

You may also register up to the end of voting on General Voting Day, Saturday, November 15, 2014, at any of the Voting Places (listed on the City’s website) or at Abbotsford City Hall, 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Additional information on elections can be obtained from the City of Abbotsford website at www.abbotsford.ca/election.

You may also contact the Election Office.

Election Office Phone: 604-851-VOTE (8683) Fax: 604-853-1934 Email: [email protected]

Bill Flitton Sherry Davis and Katie Karn Chief Election Officer Deputy Chief Election Officers

NOTICE OF ELECTION BY VOTING

2014 General Local Election City of Abbotsford and School District No. 34

special features - abbotsford civic election 2014

Documents

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