Common Sense and Vision - A Rare Combination

The Last Six Years

Thank you for visiting my website!

And so you may ask what have we accomplished in my nearly 6 years in office?

I believe one of our most significant achievements has been the transformation from a fractious, less than civil and less than effective Council to our present Council that has shown it is capable of working constructively and positively toward our shared objective of making the District of North Vancouver one of the best, if not the best places to live in Canada, if not the World. Yes we have our differences but by and large we have worked well together as we have faced some tough challenges over the past 3 years.

We have finally realized the long-held dream of establishing a re-vitalized heart of the Lynn Valley community with the opening last December of the new Library and the Town Square in May. We have embarked on and, by election time, will have nearly completed the seismic upgrade and rejuvenation of the Capilano Branch of the District Library system. We secured $2,000,000 in federal and provincial funding for this 4 Million dollar project.

Thanks to Council approving my motion, we have a Library system that now provides service 7 days a week for most of the year and continually ranks at the top of all Library systems in the country! It has been my privilege to serve as your Council's representative on the Library Board for the past 3 years! We have established a pattern within our budget preparation by committing to add to our infrastructure maintenance budget each year to the point where we are beginning to close the gap in our own infrastructure deficit. This remains an enormous challenge in the face of senior governments' refusal to acknowledge and address the issue. On your behalf I have lobbied at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Union of British Columbia Municipal conferences to see appropriate funding mechanisms put in place to relieve the municipal taxpayer of the burden of funding the staggering infrastructure deficit.

We have, after many years, adopted the Alpine Recreation Strategy with a clear plan to move ahead with ensuring the continued viability of this incredible asset while meeting the needs of a hugely diverse user group. Perhaps a sure sign of success is that not everybody is happy with the end result! Just kidding!

We have worked with the Lynn Valley and Lower Lynn communities to try and enunciate a vision for these 2 vital areas within our community. We have never before engaged in such a widespread and concerted effort to engage these residents in the long range planning for the development of their respective neighbourhoods.

We have adopted revised and updated zoning of the vital Marine Drive corridor after close to 7 years of analysis and study by the dedicated Marine Drive Task Force members. Now we wait to see how our property owners and developers will respond to this proactive strategy. There are already positive signs that we will see significant re-development and improvement of this corridor within the next few years. All within a framework of sustainable, green technical excellence.

The Lower Cap Community is coming together like never before as a result of many years of facilitation and consultation. I am so thankful that a group of dedicated volunteers and staff have worked so hard to address the “gap” in community services that has existed in this sector of our municipality. We preserved as parkland or public/recreational use District land with a market value in excess of $70 million when we adopted the Seymour Local Plan. We facilitated the development of the Northwoods Business Park on Dollarton Highway insisting on “Green Building” guidelines and sustainable development practices. We established the 28 member Community Planning Working Group to advise Council on the process for developing our updated Official Community Plan. And, quite frankly, I could go on and on. We have accomplished a lot and I am proud of my role in helping these initiatives come to fruition. However, we are not finished and I guess we never will be but I would like to continue contributing in the best way I know how - as your elected representative on Council.

As before, I ask for your support on Election Day.

I also ask that you consider volunteering to take a Lawn Sign or to assist my team in placing and maintaining the signs over the campaign. And last, but not least, I ask you to consider supporting my candidacy with a financial contribution. In 2005, things got way out of control with some candidates spending in excess of $20,000 in their failed attempts to get elected. I hope we will not see a repeat of that this time around but you never know and it is important to be prepared.

In any event, your contribution to help offset my campaign expenses would be most appreciated. Please contact Cathy Taylor, my wife and Financial Agent at or 604-988-6262 to discover how you can contribute to my re-election campaign of 2008.

I look forward to being able to represent your interests at Municipal Hall for another 3 years into 2011.

Questions? Comments? Contact me at 604-644-7756 or email me at