Question: How long have you lived in Burnaby?
Answer: I first moved to Burnaby two years ago to start my career, since then I've been working as an engineer.
Q: Why do you think you are uniquely qualified to represent the riding?
A: I think there's two things that play in my favour; one is that I've lived abroad. When I was five years old my parents moved to France and I learned what it was like to go to a school where you don't speak the language and having to live a life in a new country. So, obviously Burnaby-Edmonds there's a lot of people - new Canadians - coming in and I understand what they're going through. Second thing, as a young Canadian, I don't have the choice but to take the long-term problem seriously because I'm 26 years old, if I want to be in politics for 20 years, I have to take the future seriously because I'll be paying the price if I don't. So in that sense, I'm more accountable for the future than older politicians are.
Q: What would be your own personal priority as an MLA?
A: My own personal priority as an MLA would probably be to fight for the younger generations, fight for the future. There's a lot of politicians in Victoria and in general who are very good at focusing on right now, what you want right now. But they're not very good at thinking up for ahead of time. So as a young politician I would bring that to the table.
Q: What accomplishment in your life are you proudest of?
A: There are a few things, but the biggest one was when I was an engineering student I brought together a team of 30 students and we made a feature length film.
It was a three-year project; we did everything from writing the script to filming it, editing it, and soundtrack, the whole thing. It was the first leadership challenge that I ever had, and it was probably the most rewarding experience that I've had so far.
Q: Who, in your life, has been a role model for you?
A: Quite a few people, but probably the biggest one would be my dad. Mainly, just for the way he treats people and the way he has always been, there's always been a sense of decency around him. He was a dentist in Nanaimo for a while and the way he treated people working for him and all of his friends and family, it's a model I hope to uphold.
The other thing is, too, both of my parents have a healthy disregard for social expectations.
They've always lived their life the way they wanted to, even though they're pretty conservative in their way of life, so I certainly hope to be as authentically myself as they are themselves.
