People ask me; "What is your platform Paul?"

Well, to me it is not about "A" platform, it's about a mosaic of platforms. Or a Vision if you will. All the different pieces should come together and create one amazing place to live, work and play.

I will never make empty promises to appease what the public wants to hear because I will only ever make a promise that I KNOW I CAN KEEP!

Therefore my platform / vision would be to help attain, work towards and guide Mission in that direction. The following are  just some of the pieces and are in no particular order;

• Affordability - A city where we residents can stay and live out our years. Our children, seniors or anyone else shouldn't have to leave their roots because Mission has priced them out.
• Inclusive Not Exclusive - A vibrant community where all people can co-exist in a peaceful, caring, respectful manner. We are all Humans, let's treat each other as such. Generally I find Mission to be pretty good at this. Friendly people that smile and say hello to one another. But we can do better...
• Public Safety - Maintain adequate level of services (Police, Fire and Ambulance) to keep the safety of all citizens always in mind. Now some things are not in the scope of city finances, however we should lobby vehemently for those things that aren't and adequately fund those that are.
• Natural Beauty - Being an avid photographer that has been focusing my camera (Pun intended) on the Mission area for years now, I will strive to maintain our natural beauty. Not to say I'm against development. Because I'm not, we just need to insure it's done without raping the landscape beauty and to help developers help us. More on development can be found here,
• A Place to Work - Let's attract businesses that pay a decent wage and have good employment ratio per square foot. For example; a Storage Company has a lot less employees than a manufacturing plant with the same square footage. More on local jobs found here.
• A Place to Play - Maintain, grow and nurture our Parks, Recreation, and Culture. As a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee since its inception in October 2015 and Chair for the first 3.5 years, this obviously is a soft spot for me. Mission's Recreation and future in this area is paramount to the quality of life for ALL Missionites.

Bear in mind people that a Councillor is just one voice on Council. It takes "Team Council" to come to a decision in the best interest of Mission. A Team of different opinions and views. Egos need to be left at the door and there shouldn't be any "Star Players."

It all seems Utopian and out of reach at times, but if ALL Councillors and the Mayor work together as a team and "Keep their eye on the prize," ANYTHING is possible.

~ Paul ~