Skip to content

Candidate questionnaire: Lynn Simcox (Christian Heritage Party)

Abbotsford West CHP candidate Lynn Simcox answers questions about the biggest local issues
web1_lynn-simcox

The News sent a questionnaire to all candidates in the three local ridings. Candidates were given strict word limits and instructed not to go over, lest their answers be cut off. The first version of this posted online incorrectly omitted the question and part of the answer for “Why would you make a good representative for your constituents in the legislature.”

Name: My name is David Lynn Simcox but I was called and do use Lynn as my first name, as my father’s first name was David as well.

Current occupation: Retired

Achievements: Believer , Parent, Provider

Where do you live? I live in Abbotsford close to the City Hall

If you have run for office before, what have you learned? If you have not, why are you running now?

I have never run for office but have been a member of the CHP for nearly 30 years. I am running now to give the citizens of Abbotsford a chance to vote for a different party. A party which is guided by completely different principles than the other parties.

Tell us about yourself. I.E.: Where were you born, where did you go to school/college etc., what jobs did you have over the years?

I was born in Winnipeg and lived there till I moved here in 2010. As a kid I delivered flyers , worked as a “newsy” on the CPR Transcontinental train, one summer on a soft ice cream truck and part time in a garage for my teen and college years. After electronics college I worked for four years as a Carman repairing freight cars for the CPR before joining Manitoba Telecom. Ten years as a Central Office man maintaining two different toll switching systems led to twenty two years as a Traffic Engineering Associate. Technology change was constant and attention to detail paramount. Along the way I earned a Certificate in Management (CIM) at the U of M and took numerous CMA accounting courses.

Why would you make a good representative for your constituents in the legislature?

I have a fond 25 year association with Abbotsford through visits to my Mom who moved here in the 1980s. After retiring I moved here in 2010. I have an analytical mind. When I see three numbers I want to know how one affects the other two. I have been a tax preparer. I am Treasurer for two entities now and for others in the past. I have been on tender committees evaluating multi million dollar project bids. As an MLA I have the abilities to analyze the real costs to taxpayers for suggested programs and asset expenditures. The aim is to keep the cost of government down.

I also love kids. I love their smiles and innocence of life. As a CHPer it is our parties commitment to your children, to protect your families in all aspects to the best of our abilities. That is why you can and should make me your MLA.

What are the three most important issues facing Abbotsford and how would you address them?

1. Debt and Taxation: A $4.7 billion (B) operational surplus over the last four budgets is a substantial feat but it does not make up for the $5.1B in deficits over the Liberals preceding term of office. The provincial long term debt has risen from $36.8B in 2008 to a projected $71.5B in 2018. All due to long term buying. The interest costs are staggering and reduces governments ability to provide essential services. The CHP is committed to vigilance in all areas of spending with a view to reducing costs and seriously planning for debt reduction. Don’t make our children and grand children pay for our debts.

The taxpayer faces a myriad of taxes to separate them from their money. The carbon tax really does nothing to help the environment but it sure causes direct taxpayer costs to rise. As Treasurer of a condo complex I know that 17% of my natural gas bill is directly tied to that tax. Indirect costs come in the form of higher cost for goods as suppliers pass on their carbon costs. CHP will eliminate the BC provincial carbon tax.

2. Border Protection

Our southern border is not being protected. Illegal border crossers are being allowed into our country. We don’t know them, they have not been vetted or approved. Airport security, RCMP and CSIS tracking costs for existing threats are rising. Our Abbotsford Remembrance Day parades now require heavily armed surveillance teams on The Reach and an armoured personnel carrier in the parking lot. The Liberal parties provincially and federally are mum on numbers, costs and security threats. We in the CHP are lifting the cone of silence and rejecting their “ Don’t worry be happy” attitude to our security.

3. Flood Protection

I was born at the height of the worst, in cost, Red River flood in Winnipeg. My Mom crawled over sand bags to get into the hospital while my Dad, a lineman, was hauling telephone cable higher up on the next door bridge to keep it out of the water and ice. Floods are bad. Over the years I moved many a sand bag , sometimes in a lost effort. Manitoba floods are at least “creepers “ You have time to prepare. Not so here. You need to be ready all the time. I applaud the City of Abbotsford council for its warnings and diligence. I and the CHP will push for more provincial and federal flood protection support.

Tell us a surprising or unique story about yourself:

I enjoy hiking . In 2003 a group of us hiked across a peninsula of Baffin Island. Specifically, the trail was in Auyuittuq National Park. It was a nine day crossing full of adventure amid the wondrous scenery of God’s creation. But I could not get away from politics. We ended the trip in one of the smallest and most remote villages in Canada when who shows up? It was Paul Martin. I just laughed at the coincidence. I think he was campaigning to be PM. It was such a “big to do” for this village that literally everything shut down and we were reluctantly swept up into the political foray. We did appreciate the local entertainment of drumming and throat singing most of all though.

Abbotsford is split into three ridings, all of which have changed a little since the last election. Click here for a map of the Abbotsford-Mission riding. Click here for a map of Abbotsford South. Click here for a map of Abbotsford West.