With the May 9 provincial election fast approaching, The Squamish Chief sat down with each of the current candidates for Sea to Sky MLA. Each week we will be featuring one of the candidates.
Tristan Galbraith is best known as the owner of Whistler’s Critter Get Ritter pest control services and his unsuccessful run in 2014 for a seat on the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s council. The 35-year-old also has a keen interest in provincial politics and has thrown his hat in the ring to become an independent Member of Parliament for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.
The Chief sat down with Galbraith to see how serious he is about the position, what he thinks about the generation gap in politics and about his platform. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.
Q: How serious are you about this? Are you prepared to actually become the Sea to Sky MLA?
A: I am fully committed to that if that circumstance evolves, but I think most of us realize and recognize that incumbent MLA Jordan Sturdy is a lifetime politician. He’s been in there pretty much his whole life and things aren’t really going to change all that quickly. That is logical. Mostly I am running because we need to have a more accurate leadership, a younger demographic, people with more business experience.
Q: I noticed in your platform that you talk about the different needs of younger people. How are their needs different?
A: The hierarchy of needs has been destroyed in our communities.
People used to buy property, here as late as the 1980s, for the amounts that aren’t even enough for a down payment on a townhome now. More politicians here need to be aware of this and put it on their platform.
Q: A lack of affordable housing is a huge issue for many people in Squamish. What would you push for as a Sea to Sky MLA to be able to combat this problem?
A: I would push for more affordable housing for working people and people with disabilities.
More than anything, if we are creating the amount of fiscal dollars for the province – in Whistler alone it is a quarter of the tourism revenue, over $1 million a day – we need to distribute this. Anyone working in our communities should have a guaranteed minimum wage that is higher than $11.25, it needs to be around $15 to $16.
We have always paid people [in my company] $18 to start; if they are good $20 right away.
To me, part of housing is an affordable wage and if you aren’t paying $20 an hour I don’t think it is affordable.
Q: In Squamish the liquefied natural gas plant has been really controversial. What is your take on Woodfibre LNG?
A: What I am hearing is that it is a great solution, it is a great plan and it is a well thought out plan, but something that is more along the five or 10-year plan and it is not really a long-term plan for jobs. Nothing is really guaranteeing jobs.
I had thought a more suitable one would be wind electricity in Howe Sound.
Q: What else about improving the environment would you like to highlight?
A: Electric bikes are a big one, being in Whistler and a professional cyclist half my life. In Europe they actually have competitive E-bike racing.
We are going to see the same thing here and why not be ahead of the game a little bit.
Also, manufacturing more bikes and ski equipment in the corridor and putting in more charging stations.
Q: I imagine then you support implementing regional transportation for the Sea to Sky?
A: I support regional transport, but on a common sense basis. From what I am seeing there’s a dead season in certain times of year. In Whistler transit is not being used [at times]; in Squamish there are times of the day when it is not busy on transit.
Looking at other forms like other cities have done where they are renting bikes and loaning out bikes. Biking is really healthy and it is better than sitting on a bus and it is going to save us money in the long run.
Q: What is your plan for ICBC?
A: ICBC is a great fiscal revenue source, but I think the money can be spent better. It can be more open about where this money is going. I have been doing a lot of reading about what some American politicians are encouraging and it is not just around auto insurance, it is around insurance in general.
I really think the insurer needs to be more at the whim of the insured; they need to serve to us more than we are serving to them.
Q: You sent us a link to your website that features a section titled Tremendous Stress Traumatic Success. In it you mention times you’ve been arrested; What did you want to say about that?
A: I prefer not to comment. People can look into it themselves. In terms of Tremendous Stress Traumatic Success, I think with success comes a lot of issues and I think people need to be aware that if you want to be at the top you are going to get dragged down. It is how you manage it.
I hope people could just look into what has happened in my life and maybe reflect on it and say, ‘This guy has been through a lot and maybe he deserves a vote.’
To find out more about Tristan Galbraith and his campaign go to www.tristangalbraith.com.
