An Abbotsford councillor wants to parlay his 30 years of municipal service into a job representing a larger audience the May 14 election.
Simon Gibson will be running under the BC Liberal banner in the Abbotsford-Mission riding, and the long-serving politician will be opening his Mission campaign office March 23 at 1:30 p.m.
Gibson grew up on Vancouver Island, and moved to Abbotsford in the mid-1970s. He was first elected to Abbotsford council in 1979, and has served continuously since then, except for one year.
The married father of two adult children has been teaching business at the University of the Fraser Valley for 13 years, and previously taught professional communications at Trinity Western University in Langley.
Before teaching, he worked for Finning Tractor and Surrey Metro Savings.
“I felt my experience in elected office would benefit the residents of our community,” said Gibson on his motivation to run. “I think I would be a strong representative in the legislature. I’m a proven hard worker and I’m a good listener.”
Gibson said the BC Liberals have provided strong, financially prudent leadership.
“While I’m a believer that government has to provide a mix of social services,” there must be a strong economy in place to pay for those programs, he noted. “The NDP doesn’t have a monopoly on social conscience.”
Gibson has been spending two days per week in Mission since he won the riding nomination in January, and says the response he’s gotten has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
The Mission campaign office will be located at the corner of Horne Street and North Railway Avenue, across from the Petro-Canada station.
Gibson can be reached via e-mail (simongibson@shaw.ca), on his website (simongibson.ca), by phone (604-778-549-0647) and you can follow him on Twitter (simonformla).
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