Candidate Profile – Craig STEVEN – #231 – (Independent)
Top 3 priorities (from City of Vancouver Election webpage)
- Law and order.
- Financially responsible.
- Safe and accessible parks
Platform (from City of Vancouver Election webpage)
I will support Park Rangers and the Vancouver Police Department in keeping our city recreation services safe and accessible for everyone.
I will vote against the destruction of our golf courses and pitch & putts.
I will not support any Olympic related events and/or festivities to take place on any Park Board properties unless I see data that these Games will benefit us.
The forgotten taxpayers and law-abiding citizens will no longer be forgotten.
2022 Park Board Candidate Questions
1. You’re speaking to a friend from out of town, and they ask for a quick overview of “where things are at” with Vancouver’s parks and recreation facilities. What do you say?
We have parks that are filthy with garbage and crime, anything from illegal shelters, defecating, public intoxication, littering, drugs, and assaults. Also, that radical ideologists want to destroy Langara Golf Course.
2. The topic of equity features heavily in both VanPlay (the Parks Board Masterplan) and the recently approved Vancouver Plan. What’s your take? Does Vancouver’s park system need to be more equitable and accessible? If yes, what changes would you propose and/or prioritize to make this happen?
Parks and facilities can be more accessible with adequate parking/including handicap spots and Stanley Park needs vehicle/bike lanes go back to original operation for better access for families, seniors, and those with mobility challenges, not to mention the businesses that are impacted.
3. As a general principle, should parks aim to accommodate cycling paths within their boundaries? What are your thoughts on bikes and bike lanes in parks? (Please note: this is not specifically a question about Stanley Park).
I will not support pouring concrete in the middle of a green space so bikes can go through. If engineers come up with a feasible plan to accommodate more cycling, I would entertain it.
4. What role, if any, do you see the Park Board playing in responding to the needs of people experiencing homelessness/houselessness and encampments?
I will support law enforcement in the removal of anyone putting up illegal structures, on drugs, intoxicated or damaging green spaces. Parks Board job is to maintain recreation facilities and parks, and to make sure they are accessible for all, not solve homelessness, we need to stay in our lane.
5. Should Vancouver’s parks and recreation facilities play a part in supporting climate resilience or ecosystem restoration? If yes, how?
If you think we will be underwater by 2030, fine let’s build up the seawall, we’ll make it big and powerful, but provincial and federal governments will have to chip in.
6. Is having a Board of Parks and Recreation the best way to govern and manage Vancouver’s park system? If yes, why? If not, what would you propose in its place?
Parks board is useful as long they don’t push their own, social, environmental, and judicial agendas.
7. What, if anything, do you think the Park Board should do to support/facilitate community activation/events and stewardship of park spaces and facilities?
Having community events is a great way for the neighborhood to be active and promote healthy relationships with each other.
8. In the past few years, the Park Board has taken steps towards reconciliation, decolonization, and co-management with MST First Nations. Would you continue this work? If yes, how?
No, everyone will be treated the same, no group of people will be given preferential treatment. Any name changes to parks will be done in a democratic way.
9. If you could make changes to one park in the city – which park is it, and what would you do?
CRAB Park right now, I will allow law enforcement to enforce the various laws being broken there. Encampments make parks dangerous and unusable.
10. Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your platform?
I have a common-sense platform, it’s the other candidates that are very radical and only cause destruction and pain for Vancouverites. We need to start caring for our law-abiding and taxpaying citizens.
Biography and Contact
Biography (City of Vancouver Election Webpage)
This amazing city has been hijacked by a socialist ideology that will always bend the knee to the loud minority on political, environmental, social, and judicial issues. I will be the voice of the silent majority on Park Board related concerns by voting and standing up for sensible policies.
Contact
Email: stevencraig1867@hotmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/steven.craig.752
Twitter: twitter.com/StevenCraig1867