Gian Sihota (NDP)
Gian Sihota, a retired transit operator and CAW union representative, who has a Bachelor of Education and Masters' degree in Economics, said he considers illegal dumping on local farmland a huge concern.
"When I go and speak to people on the doorsteps, they are worried because
Richmond is a significant farming community," he said. "And we have already lost a lot of good, fertile agricultural land, so the dumping on farmland is a huge issue."
Sihota said he'd be in favour of strengthening the rules and regulations regarding what can be done on B.C.'s farmland.
"I think that's the right way to go."
When it comes to shipping jet fuel and coal, Sihota said, he understands the economic importance of the proposed projects, but would like to see increased public consultation including "all the parties affected by this."
"Also, we have to look at some of the alternatives to these options."
On the Massey Tunnel replacement impacting east Richmond, Sihota said the proposal to build a new link between Richmond and Delta needs to be assessed on a provincial scale.
"This is an infrastructure issue that has to be looked at in light of all of the other major infrastructure projects in B.C.," he said.
When asked where he would rank a replacement for the Massey Tunnel on a list of transportation improvement projects, Sihota said there are some other priority areas, but "certainly, it needs some improvement to get the traffic moving."
He suggested more efforts need to be made to increase public transportation ridership and decrease the amount of single occupancy vehicles through the tunnel.
