IN THE MAPLE RIDGE MAYOR’S RACE: Jacques Blackstone

Jacques Blackstone

RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT

Digital cinema technician/business owner, age 55

Haney area resident who’s lived in Maple Ridge 18 years

Maple Ridge is truly the last untouched bastion in the Lower Mainland.

We have an opportunity to create a unique municipality and be the destination of the Lower Mainland, and not become another carbon copy municipality of condos and congestion.

I’m not a politician.

I run a business.

I’m like you.

I’ve made a decision to throw my hat in the ring to try and be that proverbial ‘change’ we all seek.

I have a vision, and with my work as mayor, I hope to inspire other Canadians to run in their local jurisdictions for the next elections, and get involved with government at the grassroots level.

Think globally – act locally.

Website: www.MR22.com (not functioning)

Tiktok: @petepuma66

Phone: 604-726-2552

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Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: No.

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CLICK TO CHECK OUT OUR FULL ELECTION GUIDE ONLINE

Questions:

(These answers are presented as the candidates submitted them)

1. Does the City have a handle on the problems created by homelessness?

No.

2. Do you believe residents of the City feel safe?

I find it difficult to answer some of these questions because I have a different vision for Maple Ridge.

We all want a safe and clean community to live in, from all walks of life.

Our Maple Ridge has an opportunity right now to transform into something that no other community has in the Lower Mainland – if not all of Canada.

This will benefit not only us, but the entire Lower Mainland, and will generate a huge revenue that will make TransLink drool and give us what we need.

3. Do you support the City borrowing funds to build a new aquatic centre?

No.

4. Are you in favour of development along the Alouette River?

Don’t know.

5. Can City hall do more to attract new businesses to open in Maple Ridge?

Yes.

6. Should the City borrow funds to build a new arena facility?

No.

7. Should Maple Ridge take more direct action to combat the local opioid crisis?

Don’t know.

8. Is the City taking adequate measures to lower carbon emissions?

Yes.

9. Are tax levels too high in the City?

Yes.

10. Should the City commit to making a decision on proposed new developments within 12 months or less?

No.

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CLICK ON OUR ELECTIONS 2022 TAB TO FIND A WIDE VARIETY OF RELEVANT STORIES

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

How the questions were presented to each candidate

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows news readers have told us how much they value this important, straight-forward reference guide that helps orient them with the range of choices on the ballots – both at the council and school board levels.

Towards that end, we have attempted to make this package available (along with the following instructions) to each of the candidates in a timely fashion ahead of the Oct. 15 election.

Please read carefully before you start to fill this out.

To help voters in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows make their choices on election day, The News is asking local candidates 10 issue-based questions.

You must provide a ‘yes,’ a ‘no,’ or a ‘don’t know’ (Y, N, D) response to EACH of these questions.

Each question MUST be answered with yes (Y), no (N), or Don’t Know (D). This will be published in a grid in the Oct. 6 edition. Any questions not answered will be LEFT BLANK.

Candidates may also expand on ANY OR ALL of these questions (to a maximum of 200 words each). Please note any responses longer than that will be cut off at the 201-word mark.

Due to space limitations, we can only guarantee to run one of these answers in The News print edition ahead of the election. You must CLEARLY indicate which expanded answer you want to see published in print. If you do not specify, we will choose. Any and all expanded answers provided will be published online at www.mapleridgenews.com.

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