Ahead of the Oct. 15 municipal election, CFJC Today asked candidates for Kamloops City Council to complete a questionnaire, offering voters the chance to evaluate their candidacies.
QUESTIONNAIRE:
Describe yourself, your occupation and your historical connection to the Kamloops area.
I am a realtor by trade, and I have always considered Kamloops to be my home. I grew up in Merritt in my early youth, but I don’t recall much of those days. My grandfather first settled in the Kamloops area back when he immigrated to Canada in the 1950s from India and worked in lumber camps throughout the region. My father grew up in Merritt but relocated our family here when I was about nine to start a planer mill, so I began working from an early age. My experience in our family businesses not only instilled a strong work ethic within me, but also allowed me to understand the complexities of running a company. In 2008, our family business was extending credit terms to many U.S. importers that went bankrupt during the recession, so we ended up losing our manufacturing plant and our land.
After suffering this loss, I spent several years working in a plywood mill and working up to a management level. After working for many years, I decided to return to TRU as a mature student in 2014 where I completed my business degree with a major in finance. During my time in university, I worked with my father to reinvent and restructure our nearly-dead business into a small lumber and commodity brokerage. We were able to have a moderate level of success and salvage something of a business. During this time, I was also involved in various clubs and co-founded the TRU Trading Club.
Upon graduating from TRU, my best job offers in the financial sector were only available outside of Kamloops. I decided to pursue a career as a realtor in order to stay close to home and my family and I have worked in this capacity since 2018. Although I have done well in my career, I am always looking for ways to better myself, so I have recently returned to TRU to complete my MBA on a part time basis.
I’ve worked very hard to keep my life in Kamloops and I have sacrificed many opportunities to stay in this city throughout the majority of my life. There is a simple beauty to land and the people here are some of the best and most sincere I’ve ever encountered. No matter where I’ve travelled or what I’ve seen across the world, no other place feels quite like home except Kamloops.
What differentiates you from the other candidates?
I am lucky enough to have a wide perspective when assessing the current state of affairs in our city. I have the ability to relate to blue collar, white collar, or no collar workers, immigrants, first generation Canadians, small business owners, and most importantly the youth. At 33, I am the youngest candidate running for a position in city hall but I have experienced a great deal in my short life so far. I feel that I have a great basis of understanding and that I can adequately be the voice for my generation in Kamloops; a generation that will be responsible for the choices of today’s city council in the decades to come. My academic background in finance coupled with my work experience in real estate and small business can also provide valuable insight into issues facing everyday Kamloopsians.
What do you think is the best way to resolve disagreements or conflicts with your peers, those in a different department or those in a different jurisdiction?
Engaging in discussion and understanding that not all parties will always agree with my perspective. Being able to dissociate myself from my role as councillor will allow me to be more objective and to try and grasp perspectives that could be contrary to mine. I do really well in conflict resolution as I have dealt with many throughout my professional career; when dealing with so many parties that have so much to gain or lose, it is inevitable to encounter conflicts of all sorts that I have had to navigate through in the past. From my experience, the key of all resolutions is simply understanding and finding ways to relate to opinions or views that are discordant to my own.
What do you think is the biggest issue facing the City of Kamloops and how would use your elected position to address it?
The biggest issue facing the city in general is crime and the societal issue of homelessness and drug use, but this will take a collaborative approach by all members of city hall in conjunction with federal and provincial government to solve. However, the issue that I feel like I can address and impact the most is housing.
The strain on the local housing market is extremely evident and unlike the homelessness and the issues that accompany it, the solutions for the housing problem in Kamloops can be addressed quickly and easily at the municipal level. Through extensive firsthand experience, I’ve come to understand that we need to update the 2018 OCP to reflect the changes in our city. We’ve seen home prices increase rapidly since the 2018 OCP, which called for population growth at 1.25 per cent per year to see a population of 120,000 people by 2039. It’s 2022 and the average home price is in the $700,000 range and our population is already around the 110,000-person point. I have pinpointed some of the major weaknesses within our city and I’ve compiled a short list of tasks we need to complete:
By being the catalyst to push for change and growth, I feel like we can implement realizable changes for our city and tangibly benefit our community in the short term.
How do you plan to involve Kamloops residents in your decision-making?
I plan on using social media as an open forum, but I also plan on making myself accessible for one-on-one meetings or phone calls to discuss issues. I think accessibility is key and making sure that citizens understand that I am willing to hear their concerns.
What does a sustainable future for Kamloops and area look like to you and what does it need from mayor and council?
To me, it is a future where Kamloops has embraced its status as a young and growing city. With more multi-family development, better transit service, more parks and green space, higher safety and less crime, and collaborative partnerships to name a few things. All we need from the mayor and city council is ambition, drive, and a willingness to challenge the status quo. If we strive to achieve even some of those goals, we can make huge strides in progress in city hall. For far too long, good enough has been enough. However, we need to challenge ourselves to push innovation forward and work towards achieving something great, and not settling for more mediocrity.
