We sat down with the six mayoral candidates running for office to try to get to the bottom of their policies, beliefs and contradictions that may have surfaced during the municipal election campaign.
Watch the full video below or fast forward to the times outlined below to see answers to certain questions posed by reporter Tyler Olsen. You can also find links to interviews with other mayoral candidates below. For our election hub, with links to all our other election-related coverage, click here.
Nadine Snow, whose campaign has revolved around a call for better communication between the city and residents, said in an interview last week she did not participate in the engagement process for the Official Community Plan (OCP)
“In all honesty, I didn’t see a thing about it until it was already written,” Snow said. The News had written extensively about the process, but Snow said information needed to be more-widely spread throughout the community. She suggested billboards and signage could have been better employed. She also said the resulting Official Community Plan should have been simpler and easier to read.
Asked if she would be ready to advocate for Abbotsford from the start of her term, the political newcomer said she would.
“I have been reading voraciously.”
Snow was also asked about a post from a Facebook page called “Justin Trudeau is an idiot.” The post declared there should be “no more immigration from countries that refuse to assimilate.”
“Canada is a country made of many different people. It’s not about not being proud of where you’re from … but we have laws and we have expectations in our country that people will behave in a particular manner.”
“It’s not being derogatory to any persons or people, it’s saying this is Canada, this is what we believe, this is what we do.”
Watch the full interview below.
Nadine Snow
0:30 : Why are you better than the five other candidates running?
2:20 : Your opponents have also lived in Abbotsford for decades, why is your experience more valuable than theirs?
4:15 : How would you be able to address needles in parks when other communities have tried and failed?
6:15 : Should those who don’t use overdose prevention sites not receive harm reduction supplies?
7:15 : You talk about the need for better communication systems. The city would say they try to engage the public. Was that not enough?
9:15 : Did you take part in the feedback process for the Official Community Plan?
10:15 : Will you be ready to advocate for the city with senior levels of government from Day 1?
11:30 : You say health care is a pressing concern, but that’s not a city responsibility. What can be done with the city’s budget to address that?
15:30 : How would you address Abbotsford’s lack of industrial land?
17:15 : How can the city actually get businesses to build in ways you suggest?
18:45: Why did you share a post from a Facebook page called “Justin Trudeau is an idiot” that said “no more immigration from countries that refuse to assimilate”?
21:00 : How does being Indigenous affect your outlook on politics?
22:30 : Back to communications: What else can be done to get busy people to care about municipal affairs?
25:15 : Is there an onus on the public to inform themselves?
OTHER MAYORAL CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS