The City of North Vancouver should give bus lanes a chance and pot shops some breathing room.
Those are two of the platforms of Michael Willcock, who is currently campaigning to become the city’s next mayor.
Willcock, who works as a researcher in the field of environmental science, said he was compelled to run after realizing none of the other five candidates addressed
his concerns.
“I’ve seen a lot of (council) decisions being made that just frankly made me scratch my head,” he said, referring to city council’s 5-1 vote to ban city cannabis sales prior to nationwide legalization. The city also filed petitions in B.C. Supreme Court to order the closure of illegally operating pot shops.
Coun. Rod Clark cast the only vote against the ban.
Willcock blasted the ban, suggesting the “backward decision” harmed an emerging market led by young entrepreneurs.
“They’ve decided to turn their backs on them, forcibly shut them down, take them to court . . . instead of working towards the future,” he said.
Willcock added that he doesn’t favour pot shops on every corner in the city.
“I don’t want people to think that I’m some crazy pothead hippie; but I hang out with crazy pothead hippies all the time and they’re great people.”
If elected, Willcock said he would push for dedicated bus lanes, which he called a “necessity.”
“We don’t have a lot of room to grow physically,” he said, noting extra buses would simply burden the already beleaguered road network. Bus-only lanes, however, would encourage drivers to leave their car at home and take public transit, he said.
While stipulating he isn’t anti-development, Willcock said the city needs to practise sustainable development.
The city’s road network hasn’t been expanded or increased in “quite a long time,” he said. “But we’ve been going on a densification rally for the last 10 years, so there’s going to be a (traffic) choke point.”
Willcock was also critical of establishing the new $237-million Harry Jerome rec centre project and its adjacent 802-unit Upper Lonsdale development, arguing the development was “forced down our throats.”
“Right by the Upper Levels highway you want to start a $250-million construction project ASAP?” he asked. “It doesn’t seem to me that that is a very conscientious decision of the people.”
While Willcock said he would collaborate with the District of North Vancouver on transit issues, he opposed amalgamation.
The city has a “unique vibe” that would be imperilled by amalgamation or by over-development, Willcock said.
“When you build glass towers that are sitting half empty you lose the soul of the city,” he said. “I want to keep the city the city.”
As mayor, Willcock said he would be a defender of small business.
“What’s happening here in the city is we’ve been eradicating the small businesses, we’ve been eradicating the small communities,” he said. He identified Moodyville as a community that’s been “erased.”
On the issue of public engagement, Willcock said the two minutes allotted to speakers at city council meetings isn’t sufficient for residents to express their most pressing concerns.
The election is slated for Oct. 20.
Couns. Rod Clark and Linda Buchanan, former councillor Guy Heywood, Kerry Morris and Payam Azad are the other mayoral candidates.
