Meet Troy Hunter, independent
Name: Troy Hunter
Website: www.troyhunter.ca
Email: [email protected]
Questions (in 50 words unless specified)
Tell us about yourself. (100 words)
I was born in New Westminster and raised in Cranbrook, B.C. I am a member of the Ktunaxa First Nation. I am an artist and a lawyer. I studied cultural resource management, developed an opened an indigenous interpretive centre in a former Indian residential school, and pulled myself up by bootstraps to obtain a law degree and pass the bar admission exams. I have worked as a lawyer in Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster for the past four years and last year I opened my own law corporation on Columbia Street. I’m married and have a daschund dog.
What are the Top 3 issues facing the City of New Westminster? (100 words)
Traffic congestion in New Westminster at certain times of the day is terrible. Automobiles pass through the city on a daily basis without significantly contributing to the local economy. Real estate prices have in the past decade skyrocketed, so too have rental rates where we see people opting for less than optimal housing situations which leads to overcrowding and even homelessness. The City needs a strong economic development strategy to attract viable businesses that create more meaningful employment, reduces commuter traffic, fills vacant spaces and beautifies our city so that people want to live and work in New Westminster.
What is the biggest success or failure of the current city council?
I can’t answer the question without having reviewed all of the decisions of the present city council over the last four years to be able to determine that. What I can say is that in politics it is impossible to please the all of the people all of the time.
The City of New Westminster concluded a lengthy official community plan process and is working to implement that plan. With the city’s population projected to grow to 104,000 by 2041, is the city on the right track to accommodating this growth?
I don’t believe that the OCP will fully accommodate the growth given that affordable housing lands has only two parcels identified when there is “NIMBYism”. Same with tower development, more homes but not in my backyard. We probably need underground traffic infrastructure tunnels to ease traffic congestion.
What three people – alive or dead – would you invite to a dinner party?
Walter Moberly, the founding father of New Westminster, my deceased father Roy Hunter, and Bill Gates. I would love to chat with Gates to convince him that New Westminster is the place to be and to invest here putting the old capital city back on the map again.
Editor's note: Candidates were given specific word count guidelines and were cut off if they went over the count.
