IN THE PITT MEADOWS COUNCILLOR RACE: Jag Parmar

Jag Parmar

Realtor/financial consultant, age 29

Resident of Pitt Meadows for 15 years

I am a forward-thinking real estate/finance professional who has gained sharp inter-personal and technical skills throughout my years of experience.

I’m passionate about using my leadership skills to inspire and motivate others, all while ensuring ethical principles and practices are followed.

I am known for my solution-oriented and hardworking approach.

I’ve decided to run because we need a voice for the youth of our community, and someone with a diverse background who isn’t afraid to voice their opinion.

If elected to office I would advocate for transparency of city council and prioritize the best interest of the residents while maintaining growth of the economy of Pitt Meadows.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JagParmar2022

Email: Jagparmar2022@gmail.com

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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)

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1. Should the City switch from a volunteer-based (paid-on-call) fire department to a full-time model?

Yes, I believe that having full-time fire staff allocated strictly to Pitt Meadows is going to play a key role in ensuring the safety of our community.

It is essential we are properly staffed and meet all regulations, as the fire department is typically the first to respond to all emergencies within the community.

2. Should Pitt Meadows take more direct action to combat the local opioid crisis?

Yes, I believe we should do what we can to support anyone struggling with addiction to get their life back on track.

3. Do you support the construction of the Harris Road underpass?

Yes, I believe it is an essential update to infrastructure to improve the traffic congestion that takes place on Harris and Lougheed.

4. Should the City set targets for the creation of more low-income and seniors rental spaces, social housing units, and/or co-op development to improve home security?

Yes, these spaces will unfortunately become more necessary with the increase in inflation and taxes. A safety net for housing will prevent families from becoming homeless.

5. Do you support the proposal for the new CP Rail logistics yard?

No, I don’t believe the CP Rail logistics yard is in the best interest of the residents of Pitt Meadows. The CP Rail expansion poses a serious health, safety, and environmental risk to our community.

6. Should the City be offering more tax breaks, rebates, and other incentives to entice new businesses to town?

Yes, as long as the businesses are not taking away resources from our community. It is important to maintain the natural beauty of Pitt Meadows and ensure the health and wellbeing of our residents is first priority over financial gain.

7. Do you think residential property taxes are too high in Pitt Meadows?

Yes, I think the increase is going to hurt a lot of families in our community, especially those that are already living paycheck to pay-check, receiving pension or any form of government assistance.

8. Does Pitt Meadows need an indoor swimming pool?

Yes, we have a run-down out-door pool and building an in-door pool will allow many benefits. Programs for youth, people wanting to learn how to swim, exercise classes for senior residents, and an overall great community experience year- round. We should find a way to allocate budget towards this without having to increase the taxes on our residents.

9. Do you support the City creating a separate RCMP detachment, exclusively serving Pitt Meadows?

No, I don’t think we currently have the population to support spending money on a separate RCMP detachment without this costing residents more in taxes. Having our own detachment doesn’t prevent crime. Most criminal activity is committed by people in their early teens and young adults. By providing community policing programs for young people to engage in we can create a safer community without it being a financial burden.

10. Should Pitt Meadows parks and nature areas be protected at the cost of future development opportunities?

Yes, these existing parklands are essential to what makes our city so beautiful.

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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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