Dana Taylor is the most recent candidate to put his name forward to become MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky in the upcoming provincial election, scheduled for May 9.
Taylor, who is running as the Green Party candidate, is a two-term North Vancouver city councillor and current executive vice-president of the Mechanical Contractors Association of B.C. The Chief sat down for a conversation with Taylor about his background and his thoughts on pressing issues in Squamish, including transit and housing. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.
Q: Why did you want to run for the Green Party rather than another party?
A: I have been kicking around the subject of sustainability for a long time both in my regular job with the Mechanical Contractors Association of B.C. and in my life at large. In the absence of others running and realizing there are some important issues there, I decided this was probably a good time to do this. We have a fascinating riding; There’s a real mix of interests up the corridor. I have opinions and the party has policies and everything I looked at there I certainly support and endorse. I thought it was time to put my voice to work. Though, perhaps, it didn’t show in the results of the last election – I really feel there is a network of support for a lot of the issues that impact the Sound right up to D’Arcy and I wasn’t hearing that represented from government, so I think it is time to give voice to some of those issues
Q: This is a very diverse riding and Squamish residents are different from West Van residents, who are different from Whistler residents. How do you plan to balance those differing viewpoints serving the whole region?
A: My guiding principal is from a community level. My own start was at a community level. I know people hate the word ‘consultation,’ but it really has to be a part of any decisions of government. I would take that right back to dealing with First Nations. It often baffles me with government that, particularly given the history and legal framework, consultation isn’t always a starting point for many decisions, particularly at the provincial level. Most definitely for all these communities there has to be an understanding of what people want. If consensus can be drawn, I would certainly pursue that and where differences occur, those have to be negotiated.
Q: It is definitely a massive riding…
A: It is and I admit my orientation to it is from West Vancouver, but I have travelled up the Sea to Sky often. My first visit to Whistler was in 1970 and it barely existed in those days. It is very different today.
Q: Regional transit is a big issue for the corridor. What would you do to improve our transit system?
A: I understand there has been some conversation around putting in regional transit up the Sea to Sky. Increasingly, the traffic on the Sea to Sky in the last decade has increased substantially. As Squamish becomes more – and you may not like this term – a bedroom community of Vancouver, clearly that is an issue. The absence of a decent transit system does not help ordinary working people who have to make the trek. I have to admit I have not come to solutions. I am still asking questions myself on this one.
Q: What would you do to address the lack of housing affordability? It is one of the biggest issues we are facing in Squamish.
A: It is going to be one of the toughest issues to address. I met with a woman this past weekend, she and her partner make about $150,000 between them and they can’t afford to buy and they can’t afford to save for a down payment. I think we need to revisit the co-op idea as an option. When the federal government had a role to play in assisting co-op housing, we produced a number of different types of co-ops that now appear to be desirable models for many people to live in. If there are opportunities to open that back up, I think we should do that.
Another possible solution is rental subsidies. You have to take land out of the market system and make it available for other uses, whether that be rental housing or cooperative housing. Or you can have a subsidy direct to the renter. Yes, it would involve things like a means test and, yes, it might be perceived as welfare for the middle class, but if we can’t retain a certain kind of worker in cities then we are definitely going to lose them.
So co-op, setting aside land for alternative housing and some sort of rental subsidy with a means test to attract and keep people in a working area. Beyond that there’s a whole whack of stuff including module housing and some planned communities.
Overlaying all of that, I would like to explore the possibility of forming housing advisory groups that would be very local, where you look at some other options to build. There are all kinds of things being tried, and I have great faith in people to make their own decisions and push a lot of the government decision.
***Please note this story has been corrected since it was first posted. Taylor was incorrectly said to be running as a candidate for MP, when he is running to be MLA.
