Name: David Murray
Age: 55
Occupation: parks and recreation worker, City of Port Coquitlam
Twitter: Dmurray4Pitt
Facebook: DavidMurray4PittMeadowsCityCouncil
Q1. What have you personally achieved, or what initiative have you personally led in recent years that qualifies you to be elected or re-elected as a Pitt Meadows councillor?
1. I am starting my third two-year term as the secretary-treasurer of the CUPE Fraser Valley District Labour Council, which represents 10,000 workers in the Fraser Valley. Last year I was elected as the secretary-treasurer of the Fraser Valley Labour Council, which represents 30,000 workers in the Fraser Valley. I also ran in the last federal election in the riding of Abbotsford. Our team was able to see a great result.
We were the only riding in western Canada that doubled our vote. I am also starting my fourth term as the elected Political Action Representative of the Fraser Valley for CUPE. This area covers Coquitlam to Boston Bar. With this position, I travel to every city in the Fraser Valley and attend city council and school board meetings, hence learning a lot about civic politics in all jurisdictions.
Q2. How would you act on your top priorities as Pitt Meadows councillor?
2. I would be acting on Pitt Meadows citizens’ top priorities, not my own. Having lived in Pitt Meadows since 1987, I have been actively campaigning and engaging voters in the last few months. I would continue to listen to their concerns. Traffic is on a lot of people’s minds in Pitt Meadows. I would help lobby senior levels of government to be able to help facilitate a solution to our transportation infrastructure concerns. Pitt Meadows residents want sustainability in our community. I would help achieve this without compromising our Agricultural Land Reserve. Our citizens would like to be able to work, shop and play in our community. This would lessen our carbon footprint and create a better work-life-family balance. I would make sure we have a strong commitment to public safety by supporting policies that would let Pitt Meadows citizens engage in active, healthy lifestyles.
Q3. What is your position on the construction of the North Lougheed Connector and what kind of development should it serve?
3. I am solidly against punching the road through farmland. We need to look after Pitt Meadows, agricultural land and farming. The land has potential for agricultural and educational uses. Among some of the interesting ideas I have heard is that the land could be developed as satellite university campus, along with stretches set aside as an agricultural trust for hands-on learning. We need jobs that pay family sustaining wages in Pitt Meadows, but not at the price of compromising our ALR.