As part of our Squamish Votes 2018 coverage, we invited each candidate to fill out an online questionnaire answering questions about policy and big issues facing Squamish in the next four years. Candidates were emailed the questionnaire and given one week to submit answers.
About You
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Name: |
Philip Audet |
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How many years have you lived in Squamish? |
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How many council or committee meetings have you attended since Sept. 1, 2017? |
3 |
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What do you love most about Squamish? (150 word limit) |
I love the community and the people that make up the community. I also love the lifestyle and quality of life available in squamish. |
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Are you endorsing a particular candidate for mayor? (question for councilor candidates) |
No/Not at this time |
Squamish Issues
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What do you think is the biggest single issue facing Squamish? (150 words limit) |
Gentrification. In the last 5 to 10 years Squamish has gone from a struggling blue collar town to a bedroom community/ world class tourist destination. This transformation is still a work in progress. We are dealing with affordability and growing pains and there is a real evident and emerging class divide. |
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In the last term, what was council's single greatest accomplishment? What was council's biggest failure? (150 character limit) |
Accomplishment if you can call it that was greenlighting so much development. Failure to work together cohesively and the number of incumbents running speaks to the difficulty and problems facing future counsel.
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Residents often complain about traffic (speeding, parking etc.) What would you do to improve traffic and parking in Squamish? (150 words limit) |
I would like to see more parking development and longer parking limits downtown as well as better public transit. Encouraging people to ride bikes and walk would be a big part of my process. I would like to stress safety and respect in our town and push for a blanket speed limit downtown and in some residential areas of 30 kph |
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Squamish has a housing affordability crisis. What would you do to improve affordability? (150 words limit) |
I would push hard for a housing board similar to the one in whistler. There has to be a compromise on short term rentals perhaps a blanket tax on them that could go towards affordable housing initiatives. Even though it is a provincial mandate i would like to further any discussions on higher minimum wages and any way to help small businesses attract and pay their workers fair living wages |
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Do you support stronger regulation of AirBNB? |
Yes |
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How would you attract new businesses and employers to Squamish? (150 words limit) |
Look deeper at the tax structure for small businesses and offer tax breaks or other stimulus for necessary services. Plant seeds that will lead to a fertile environment for small businesses to take root in our community. |
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Do you have a strategy to implement regional transit? (150 word limit) |
Would love to some meaningful discussions with translink about regional service. We need to look public transit on Vancouver island specifically the South end where transit is widely used and has amazing range. |
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Given limited financial resources, what do you think is the single highest priority for Brennan Park? (150 word limit) |
Another skating rink would fit nicely in with our exploding youth population. |
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Do you support cannabis retail shops in Squamish? |
Yes |
Major Developments
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Would you consider yourself pro-WLNG or anti-WLNG? |
Somewhat opposed (4) |
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Are you supportive of the Garibaldi At Squamish project? |
Neutral (3) |
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Do you support development of the Cheema Lands (Lot 509/510)? |
Neutral (3) |
