The Burnaby NOW asked every candidate running for office in the Oct. 20 civic election to fill out a questionnaire. We hope this helps you make an informed decision at the ballot box.
Candidates were given strict word limits and a deadline to submit their answers. Those who missed the deadline will not have their questionnaires posted and answers exceeding word limits will be cut off.
More candidate questionnaires can be found here and more of our election coverage can be found here.
Name: Charter Lau
Current occupation: Digital Media
Tell us about yourself.
Charter Lau often visits areas that are experiencing extreme hardships, visiting the homeless and acting as a Trustee with a legal defense fund for victims of unjust child removal. Most of my time is spent advocating for topics that are near to my heart, topics such as municipal services, roads, hospital service, and policing keeping pace with the population. The tragedy of Demovictions is one of my most concerning topics.
What are the top three issues in Burnaby right now and what would you do to fix them?
1. Diversity. Our community is diverse, but our political office is not. This is not good for democracy. Who is keeping them honest? It’s true that this is a result of elections, but if any party finds themselves in total control, I would think that they would go out of their way to consult the community and open the books, not slam the door shut. I am working on this now by running in this election. Regardless of the outcome, I’ll be watching and securitizing all that I can.
2. Coordinated road maintenance! No new North-south traffic flow improvement has been delivered for years. What has been delivered is increased traffic congestion and driver frustration. We cannot continue to go backward. Like planning finances for future needs, we can also plan our infrastructure for the future. By being proactive, I want to get us ahead of the game.
3.Housing. Building concrete jungles is...[word limit exceeded]
If you have run for office before, what have you learned? If you have not, why are you running now?
I have run in the civic election before. I’ve learned the sad fact that some parties can compensate for ineffective or stale policies by having a huge campaign budget, and win. For example, due to the union and corporate donation, the other slate in the 2014 election received more than ten times the funding but nowhere near ten times the votes.
What are one achievement and one failure of Burnaby council in the last four years?
I like the idea of preserving parklands and I appreciate the current council’s efforts on this matter. A problem occurs by increasing taxes year after year but only delivering only the same or less. The RCMP to population ratio is not keeping up. It is nice to accumulative a massive a "surplus” but this is nothing to brag about if we are falling behind in so many other ways.
What would make you a good councillor/mayor?
The world is much bigger than we often realize. It is to our benefit to take good ideas from all over the world and apply them in a way that works locally, for Burnaby. We have one of the most diverse communities in the world, and this requires a diversity...[word limit exceeded]
What movie is most relevant to your life and why?
The Life of Pi. When one leaves their country of birth and immigrates to Canada, great relationships can develop by trusting those who at first seemed very unfamiliar. This exact plot doesn’t match my experience, but the overall theme matches very well.
How can voters reach you?
I can be reached by email at charter.lau@burnabyfirstcoalition, or you can leave me a message at (778) 801-5515.
