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Hi my name is Phil Audet and I moved to Squamish from Calgary about 13 years ago. I moved here initially because of the climbing but quickly realized that community really is what makes our town special. I still love to climb and get outside as much as possible but the people of this town truly are our main resource.
I ran (and I am running) for council out of a sense that governments on all levels are failing us, they are better at polarizing people and protecting big business than they are at protecting the people and helping improve our lives.
These local governments where so much is at stake are given insufficient pieces to solve an increasingly complex puzzle. This builds apathy and leads to mudslinging and finger-pointing, anger and misguided energy.
We need to work at dismantling the bureaucracy and allowing the community to do what it needs to be healthy.
I thought long and hard about the WLNG and both sides of the issue and realized that the economic benefits don't outweigh all the negatives. I feel that this issue is the defining issue of this election and how complex it was is greatly symbolic of how current political institutions don't allow for these debates.
First and foremost in my mind is the approach of the proponents on this project. When I last ran, I met many interesting people, two of which who stood out were Trevor and David. They were approaching everyone that had a stake in the community and they wanted to know what I thought of their idea to build a gondola. They had not left anything to chance in soliciting the community, they knew who was with them and against. They built the template for how to approach our community with a project and now we are gaining steam because of the buzz from their project. The pure lack of engagement and environmental risks are really what turned me against WLNG. I feel that we need a tenant in Woodfibre but not heavy industry. We are hungry and short on cash and jobs but the overall spirit and attitude in town is positive and happy. We also need to manage our future growth intelligently, i see the cost of living going up substantially and for young families we need to be pro active. We can build up density downtown and in the oceanfront, this will help us protect our wilderness and create a vibrant and diverse downtown. We need to showcase more of our young artists and musicians.
What we have is a community that is driven, intelligent and energetic.
I worked for many years as a tree-planter to fund my travel, school and climbing. I have some great ideas and energy I would like to put towards helping Squamish so please come Nov. 15 Vote for Phil!
For more on Phil:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Phil-for-a-better-Squamish/166785700075319
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