Platform
For a Vibrant, Inclusive, and Sustainable Coquitlam!
I’m an educator, entrepreneur, and advocate for sustainable infrastructure and community development. More importantly, I am a father of two beautiful children that has been given the privilege to call Coquitlam home for the past 15 years.
I hope to enable a better transit system to link Coquitlam with more communities and more opportunities. I am advocating for the expansion of the West Coast Express (WCE) service. I believe that a bigger WCE service will be the driving engine for the local economy and encourage more people to use public transportation, thus reducing carbon emissions, creating more local jobs, helping with housing affordability, and transforming Coquitlam from a bedroom community into an economic and cultural centre of Northeast Metro Vancouver, where residents can live, work, and recreate in a safe and harmonious environment.
With that said, my priority is sustainable economic development. I am committed to growing the tax base and increasing city revenue, thus keeping property tax at a reasonable low rate while improving civic services.
Together, we can protect what makes Coquitlam beautiful today, and lay the building blocks of an even more exceptional future!
Key Message
West Coast Express Service Expansion Plan
Have you taken WCE? Do you know that WCE service has not changed much since the inaugural run in 1995?
Although Coquitlam already has the Evergreen Line SkyTrain, the route to Downtown Vancouver still requires at least one transfer, resulting in more than an hour’s worth of travel time. On the other hand, the WCE, with only few stops along the route, takes only around 28 minutes of travel to Downtown Vancouver, saving up over an hour’s worth of travel time back and forth.
WCE started its operation on November 1, 1995. Since that date, not much has changed; it still consists of a single line of eight stations, running five inbound trains to Vancouver in the morning and five outbound trains to Mission in the evening during peak commute period, Monday to Friday. Therefore, I am advocating for the service expansion of the West Coast Express so it includes the return trip and increased service in both directions. My goal is to turn this rush hour only unidirectional service into a rapid transit for public.
Request 1: Extending the unidirectional service of the WCE in the morning and evening train service by one hour each, and adding WCE service during weekend and public holidays.
Request 2: Adding bidirectional service between Port Coquitlam and Waterfront Vancouver with one more station in Burnaby and one more station at Hastings Park in Vancouver.
Request 3: Adding bidirectional service between Port Coquitlam and Mission City with one more station at Albion in Maple Ridge.
Request 4: Adding designated rail tracks to allow all day bidirectional WCE service.
Benefits of the West Coast Express WCE Service Expansion:
- Provides better connection between Coquitlam, Downtown Vancouver, and eastern regions including Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. More WCE ridership will promote economic development of the entire Fraser Valley region.
- Offers more travel choices and less travel time for Coquitlam residents.
- Attracts more tourists from other cities to Coquitlam, boosting our local economy.
- Creates more local job opportunities.
- Attracts more people to use public transportation, helping reduce carbon emissions which will assist the City of Coquitlam’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Attract More Family Doctors to Coquitlam
Currently, around 20%, nearly one million, BC residents do not have a family doctor, and those who recently moved to Coquitlam have faced similar struggles. Although health care is a provincial mandate, the City of Coquitlam can still take proactive steps to address this crisis.
I will support introducing incentive policies to attract more family doctors to practice in Coquitlam by
- Waiving business registration fees;
- Implementing simpler registration procedures;
- Increasing the amount of medical office space;
- Offering administrative support so that family doctors can focus on practice;
- Creating a fund by donation to offer scholarship/incentive to medical school students and family doctors with commitment to practice in Coquitlam for a number of years.
My Platform
Affordability
Are you worried about the rising costs of everything, while your income stays the same?
Soaring house prices, record high inflation rates, skyrocketing gas prices, rising central bank interest rates, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in many Canadian families struggling to make their ends meet. Moreover, owning a home has now become a mere distant dream for Canadians.
My aim is to turn this dream into a reality by making housing more affordable.
My vision for a more affordable Coquitlam involves:
Encouraging gentle density housing
Building more 2 & 3-bedroom Condo/Apartment units
Prioritizing more below-market rental and senior friendly housing units
Supporting $10-a-day childcare spaces
Providing incentives for family doctors to settle in Coquitlam
Business
Do you ever wish Coquitlam could be more vibrant and fun?
Coquitlam’s economic growth has been relatively slow and lacks sparkle.
I will use my business background to help revitalize our local economy and make Coquitlam the economic center of the Fraser North Shore region by:
Encouraging ‘shop local’ to strengthen local economy and grow our tax base
Increasing office space
Attracting more high-tech start-up companies
Launching the new Coquitlam Night Market
Supporting more Farmers Markets
Drawing in more tourists
Transportation
Are you thinking about going electric, but don’t know where to start?
Transportation infrastructure the key to the urban development. Since the Evergreen Line began operation in December 2016, it has made travel much more convenient for Coquitlam residents and given local economy a huge boost. As Coquitlam’s population continues to grow, infrastructure must catch up.
As your civic representative I vow to:
Advocate for more West Coast Express service between Coquitlam Centre and Vancouver Waterfront
Support more EV charging stations and parking space
Lobby for legalization of electric-assist vehicles (except sit-down e-scooters)
Encourage a walkable community
Culture, Recreation and Parks
Do you want to feel part of the local community?
Because of Coquitlam’s beautiful landscape and scenery, closeness to nature, low population density, leisure, relatively affordable housing prices, access to a convenient lifestyle, and close proximity to Downtown Vancouver, more and more British Columbians are choosing to reside here. Coquitlam is a model of an integrated multicultural community, and I will promote harmony among all ethnic groups and ensure Coquitlam’s parks, community centers, and other amenities are able to keep up with the needs of a growing and diverse population.
I will:
Champion a diverse, inclusive, and harmonious multi-cultural community
Support adding more parks, upgrading community amenities
Introduce permanent lighting at Lafarge Lake
Encourage more cultural events, community organizations, and sports clubs
Support a non-profit, city-sponsored, Coquitlam Academy of Music with a concert hall in central Coquitlam
Increase funding for libraries
Climate Change Awareness
Do you want to fight climate change?
Climate change is one of the greatest issues of our time and I fully support the City of Coquitlam’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Supporting more carbon offset programs
Promoting more renewable energy
Implementing more EV charging stations -- including innovative solar + rainwater panels made in BC to supply extra electricity to the EV charging station
Creating more parking space, and encouraging more ‘park and ride’
Public Safety
Are you concerned about the increase of crime in your neighborhood?
While Coquitlam has always been a safe and harmonious community, in recent years we have seen a rise in cases involving guns, drugs, and gangs. Public safety continues to be a major focus of my attention.
As your civic advocate for public safety, I promise to:
Promote Empower Coquitlam Parent Workshops (to provide parents tips and tools to recognize and response to warning signs for gang involvement as well as build protective factors that to keep their young person’s away from gang recruitment)
Increase police officer/resident ratio to expand police service and traffic enforcement
Introduce Smart Neighbour development
Introduce Car 67 Program
səmiq̓ʷəʔelə (Riverview) Hospital
Are you concerned with the lack of support and accommodation for those of us with mental health challenges?
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
The ongoing pandemic and growing economic uncertainty amplify pressures from life and work. The increase in social isolation and unsatisfactory environmental conditions further indicates the need for improve our capacity for compassionate care. I advocate expanding accessibility for all individuals to mental health services, counselling, and treatment.
If elected, I will actively consult with Kwikwetlem First Nation and negotiate with the provincial government to: