Occupation: Controller
Key Issues:
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Reducing Crime
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Jobs and New Investment
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Homelessness
I was born in Kamloops and moved to Surrey in 1986. In 1988, I graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) with a Financial Management Diploma, and by 1996 I became a Certified Management Accountant (CMA). Currently I am the Controller of Coast Foundation Society, the largest non-profit mental health agency in B.C.
First elected in 2005, I believe that Council must be open and accountable with tax dollars. As Chair of both the Finance and Audit Committees, I am proud that amid great uncertainty in our economy, Surrey has one of the strongest balance sheets of any city in Canada. The fact that property taxes on the average family home in Surrey are the lowest in Metro Vancouver means we are moving in the right direction.
I worked hard to establish Surrey’s Housing and Homelessness Foundation. As Vice Chair, I am pleased that our efforts to adopt a new approach to dealing with homelessness, which has seen outreach workers have place 356 homeless in permanent housing over the past two years, is working for Surrey.
I am a strong supporter of Surrey’s innovative Crime Reduction Strategy which is putting more police on our streets and is addressing issues related to homelessness and addiction. I also serve on the Parks and Recreation, Public Safety and Transportation Committees.
My wife Pav and I are raising three children, ages 7, 10 and 13 in Fraser Heights.
I am a member of the non-partisan Surrey First team.