Tri-Cities Community TV presents coverage of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce All Candidates meeting for Port Moody - Coquitlam.

As with the other ridings throughout the Tri-Cities, much of the discussion revolves around the party platforms dealing with COVID 19. Other topics of discussion include their policies in dealing with the resulting economic repercussions of COVID 19, housing / homelessness, and climate change.

The 3 candidates that participated were ;

John Latimer, BC Green Party --Mr.Latimer is a professional mechanical engineer who has worked in western Canada  for 15 years. This led to starting a regional green company, Northern Climate Pathways, that has a focus on carbon literacy and product carbon footprint labeling.  Mr.Latimer says he believes that the technologies needed to combat climate change are a business opportunity.

BC Green plan for a clean economy with its goal of being carbon neutral by 2045. Other platform priorities include; sustainable job creation, and the protection of green spaces and old growth forests.

Mr. Latimer says that the Green Party would also create a renters’ housing grant for people who pay more than 30% of their income and support covering 25% of rent for qualifying small businesses and retooling the provincial grant program to immediately get money to small tourism operators.

Rick Glumac, BC NDP incumbent -- Mr. Glumac served on Port Moody city council for six years before being elected to office in 2017. Since his election he has worked to save the public lands around Eagle Ridge Hospital from being sold off and championed a new urgent primary care centre for the community. 

As parliamentary secretary for technology, Mr. Glumac  has worked to grow B.C.’s tech sector. Previously, Rick was a software engineer and computer graphics supervisor.

Mr. Glumac says that the NDP are in the process of building, 25,000 affordable homes across the province as part of our 10-year plan to build 114,000 units. He says that they brought in the speculation tax and are freezing rents until the end of 2021 and capping increases to the rate of inflation after that. If re-elected Mr. Glumac says that the NDP would also provide a renters rebate of $400/yr for those earning less than $80,000.

James Robertson, BC Liberal Party -- Mr. Robertson spent 15 years serving in the Canadian Navy and Special Forces before retiring from military life. He now works as a shift supervisor at the Port and volunteers with the Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement Society to protect our waterway.

Mr. Robertson says that the Liberal Party  would support a one year elimination of the PST, $10 a day daycare,  a tax cut for small businesses, and an elimination of the ICBC monopoly. He says that the party would also work for more affordable housing, more daycares, community centres and schools.

Mr. Robertson says he'll work together with the municipalities and the federal government to get more purpose-built rental housing, streamline the approval process, increase the supply of housing options for low and low-to-moderate-income households.