Candidate profiles for Coquitlam mayor were published to our website in alphabetical order.
Our interview with Richard Stewart was recorded on Sept. 9 and comments have been edited for length.
Richard Stewart (incumbent)
- Age: 63
- Years as a Coquitlam resident: 63
- Occupation: Mayor
- Website: richardstewart.ca
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 604-931-2848
- Facebook/Instagram/Twitter: @mayorstewart
Who is your campaign manager?
"My wife."
Four years ago, you told the community you wouldn’t run again. How can voters trust you?
"Four years ago, I told myself it would be my last term. I made that clear because I felt that I could walk away from the work with satisfaction and there was — is — another opportunity on the table, but Covid changed everything. It took away 2.5 years out of a four-year term and I simply wasn’t able to complete the most important work I wanted to do."
Will this be your last term?
"This will, certainly. That is a commitment I made to my wife and family. This will be my last term."
Why is mental health your main driver?
"It’s the most important and challenging issue facing public policy at all levels. It’s a passion and a legacy I hope to change the direction of for local governments."
There was no byelection to replace Bonita Zarrillo. Do you think the city is above the provincial law?
"Not at all. That’s why we went to the minister. We reviewed the legislation in detail. We got legal counsel to ensure that we had a sound basis for the decision of council, which was unanimous. It simply wasn’t feasible to operate a proper byelection in the time that we had. Covid and the weather made everything more complicated. We have advocated to avoid elections in the winter months because of the complexities that places, especially for female candidates. We do set aside money for elections, but we guard every dollar to make sure it’s spent wisely. Two elections in the calendar is not good sound public policy. I haven’t heard from a single voter — other than the plaintiffs — that wanted to byelection. We need to get the rules changed in the Local Government Act."
There’s been a common theme over the past term about lack of consultation with residents. Some say city staff and council don’t respond. How can the city do better?
"We have way more consultation now than back in my first term. We didn’t consult on almost anything then. Today, we do that much more. But we can have a 2.5-year consultation plan on the Austin Heights neighbourhood and you can post the photo of it a dozen times in the newspaper and someone will say, 'This is the first we’ve heard about it.' People are busy. There’s a lot of noise. A lot people have specific sources for news. It is a frustration for every local government about how we can reach folks. We reach out every way imaginable and we still hear from people who haven’t heard about an issue."
How can the city communicate more effectively to inform citizens?
"We now post public hearing documents online so that people can read the whole package, but there’s no question that the statutory ad in the newspaper is sometimes hard to read. We’ve addressed it with staff. Is there a way to have more plain language and drawings? We have better drawings than most local governments coming before the public. I don’t want anyone to come to a public hearing with the wrong information. But planning today is way more complicated than subdividing lots."
What is your vision for Coquitlam?
"The reality of the housing crisis has changed everything for local governments. I want Coquitlam to be more livable in four years than it is today. I want to continue the amenities for residents. I want walkable, non-car centric neighbourhoods around transit lines. I want everyone to feel safe and feel proud of their community. These are things that we hear from a lot of residents every day. But we also know that there’s anxiety. The quarter-acre lot that dominated planning 50 years ago is not possible any more. I want young people to be able to stay here and not be displaced because of the housing crisis. I want more jobs here. I want a complete community."
How can you get people to be Coquitlam–proud and stop littering?
"It drives me crazy. I think it’s a struggle that every community has is the two per cent who feel that the coffee cup goes here on the lawn. It’s a tiny percentage of people who don’t have respect for their fellow residents. I suspect it’s going to be hard to reach them. But you don’t slap them with a fine."
There’s been a lot of gun violence recently. Is Coquitlam a safe place to live?
"Yes, but the Lower Mainland and North America have faced a complicated reality of gang violence. Our community has seen less of it than others, but we’re not immune. I really want the courts to support the police efforts to deal with gang violence. There are court decisions that have made it much more difficult to prosecute violent criminals."
When you first ran for mayor, you promised Maillardville you would get rid of the Hells Angels clubhouse. Why is it still there?
"The law doesn’t support police and the communities they serve in tackling gang- and organized-crime activity. Local governments have few tools to tackle crime. The actual clubhouse doesn’t have a lot of external impact on the neighbourhood other than its existence, but its existence is important to me. I desperately wish it wasn’t there, and I wish I had the tools to make it go away."
When will the Fremont Connector be built?
"We now have an agreement with the City of Port Coquitlam. The connector isn’t in Coquitlam. It was planned 40 years ago, but Port Coquitlam opted for a different route. I wish that provincial legislation allowed us more flexibility on how we fund it. We need Port Coquitlam’s support in getting it built. About 150 years ago, the foothills of Burke Mountain were designated for housing and we need that route to take away the impacts on neighbourhoods in Port Coquitlam."
Why is there no living wage at Coquitlam City Hall?
"We’re unionized. Everybody here is paid above the living wage. The challenge is we would be raising taxes to fund higher wages for a few contractors. It’s a challenging public policy to implement. I am grateful that the province has raised the minimum, but I’m not sure if we should implement a two-tiered system."
