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

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;

Will Davis, BC Liberals -- Mr. Davis, originally from Quebec, is fluently bilingual and describes himself as a successful small business owner, broadcaster, artist,  not-for-profit executive, and father who is actively involved with local community organizations. He is involved in coaching community sports and is Chair of the Parent Advisory Council that serves 3 Maillardville schools.

If elected, Mr. Davis claims that the BC Liberal Party would eliminate PST for a year, end the ICBC monopoly, implement an up to $7,000/year tax credit to help with at home care for seniors, eliminate small business tax, and implement $10/day child care for households with incomes of up to $65,000 with stepped rates for families with incomes up to $125,000.

With regard to housing affordability Mr. Davis feels that it is important to take a  balanced approach to help renters and homeowners.  He supports a one-year suspension of new fees and taxes that add costs/delays to projects and would incentivize local governments to approve more rental units per year.
 

Selina Robinson, BC NDP Incumbent  -- Mrs. Robinson was first elected as the MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville in 2013 and re-elected in 2017. She most recently served as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

A former Coquitlam city councillor, Mrs. Robinson advocated for the rights of taxpayers, introduced a local ban on cosmetic pesticides, and acted as chair of the Coquitlam Universal Access-Ability Advisory Committee.  Mrs. Robinson also ran a home-based family therapy practice and was the Director of Development for SHARE Family and Community Services.

Mr. Robinson says that the NDP started to build an affordable, accessible childcare system in 2017, delivering over 300 spaces for families in the Tri-Cities.

If re-elected Mr. Robinson says that the NDP will continue to partner with nonprofits, faith-based groups, and other landowners to deliver social and middle-income housing already have 600 units of subsidized housing underway in the Tri-Cities.

Nicola Spurling, BC Green Party --Ms. Spurling describes herself as a small business owner, a political commentator, an LGBTQ2+ advocate and an affordable housing advocate. She has experience in project management, construction, sales, economics, research and marketing.

Ms. Spurling has served as the Lower Mainland representative for the BC Green Party and a panelist on CBC's The Early Edition since 2017, is a director on the Vancouver Pride board, and is president and founder of Tri-Cities Pride.

The BC Green Party’s plan is to expand diverse forms of housing. This includes taking a housing first approach and accelerating investment in affordable, supportive and social housing on a priority basis.  We will expand supports for co-op housing, work with Coquitlam council to expand the “missing middle,” in the form of types of housing that are underrepresented in Coquitlam-Maillardville.

Ms. Spurling says that the BC Greens will introduce a rental supplement in the form of a means-tested grant that applies to low and moderate income earners who are paying more than 30% of their income in rent.