Where I Stand

Every issue on this page comes down to one thing: trust between residents and City Hall. When decisions are made before the public is consulted, when costs climb without accountability, trust erodes, and people stop showing up. Here's what I intend to do about it.

Pillar one

Accessible, Responsive Leadership

"I won't be hard to find."

My door is open. Rebuilding trust starts with showing up and listening. That's why I'll hold regular Meet the Mayor events: open, unscripted, where residents can ask hard questions and get straight answers. You shouldn't need an appointment or a connection to talk to your mayor. Residents won't wait a year to hear from me directly: I'll deliver a free, public State of the City address within my first six to eight months.

As mayor, I'll hold regular Meet the Mayor events, open and unscripted, from day one.

Pillar two

Transparent, Accountable City Hall

22.4%

voter turnout in our last civic election

That number isn't apathy. It's a lot of people who've concluded their voice doesn't matter at City Hall, and I think they have a point. Too often, "public engagement" means being brought in only after the plan is already decided - a survey to check a box, not a real chance to change anything. Not every decision needs a public vote, but residents deserve real debate while a decision can still move, not a rubber stamp once it can't.

As mayor, I'll push for meaningful public input before decisions are final, not after.

Pillar three

Fiscal Accountability & Fair Cost-Sharing

$3.86 billion

the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, and counting

We're being forced to shoulder more than our fair share of the cost overruns at the wastewater plant, under a regional cost-sharing formula that loads a heavier tax burden onto North Shore residents than the rest of the region. Costs keep climbing, and even after two rounds of letters and votes demanding independent oversight, the cost-sharing formula still hasn't changed.

It's not just the wastewater plant. Five years ago, City Hall had essentially no debt; today it's authorized roughly $165 million in borrowing for Harry Jerome and the North Shore Neighbourhood House alone, on top of our share of a wastewater plant where the North Shore covers 37% of the cost despite being 8% of the region's population. Worthwhile projects can still come with real financial risk, and residents deserve a mayor who's straight with them about what's already committed, and what still needs to be worked out, before signing off on the next one.

As mayor, I'll join the other North Shore mayors in fighting Metro Vancouver for a cost-sharing formula that treats North Shore taxpayers fairly.

Pillar four

Getting Things Right

21 storeys

the tower approved for East 14th Street, where the Official Community Plan allows 6 to 8

The province requires some density near transit, and that's fair. What wasn't required: a density transfer that pushed a 21-storey tower onto an East 14th Street block the OCP itself capped at 6 to 8, or restricting residents to written comments only, a step beyond what the province's own rules require. It's one example among several of decisions getting made without residents at the table. As Capilano Mall, the ICBC lands, and Lonsdale Great Street move forward, that's the standard I'll hold to.

Growth done right should also mean growth the city can actually move around. I want real capacity for walking, cycling, and transit alongside the roads we still rely on, built in from the start, not bolted on after the gridlock arrives. This is the city I love: mountains, ocean, and trails minutes from downtown, a place worth getting right as it grows.

As mayor, I'll push to end CNV's self-imposed ban on verbal public input - a restriction its own solicitor admitted was "cautious," not legally required.

You don't have to wait until I'm elected. Ask me something now.

Ask Mike Volunteer Donate