On Tuesday April 23^rd, Selina Robinson, NDP candidate for MLA of the Coquitlam – Malliard riding, came to Hillcrest to talk with us about local politics and what experiences have helped prepare her for public office. She told us how she ended up becoming a politician, and gave us a bit about her past. She was also telling us some reasons why we should vote for her, and also her plans for if she wins the election. She talked about many things such as her plans increasing funding for hospitals and the health care system, removing the food-banks (because people would have jobs and enough money that they wouldn’t require them) and more taxes for the people who make over $150,000 and on the banks. She also talked about the need to have more grant money available for students to be able to afford post-secondary education.  Selina also talked with us about the Evergreen Line and the need to work with other levels of government to ensure that public transit is safe and pedestrian friendly.  She also discussed the need to work on the congestion in the corridor between Coquitlam and New Westminster.  Selina explained that she was opposed the to the Enbridge pipeline. 

Steve Kim, candidate  for the B.C. Liberals spoke with us on April 24th, he explained how his parents were actually among the first Korean immigrants to come to Vancouver. They had opened the first Korean food shop. He said how great his childhood was growing up in Coquitlam, and said that he quite enjoyed it here. After he graduated from university in Canada and completed a graduate degree in Korea. Steve went on to work for a television show doing marketing which featured 2 farmers sitting on a fence, and they talked about modern-day technology, and how it was, with all of the new-fangled gadgets and Smartphones. Steve was very involved in community non-profit and just 5 weeks ago he was asked to run for the BC Liberals.  After thinking about it seriously, he decided to take a break from his small business and his non-profit work and let his name stand as candidate for the Liberals. Then, the students started asking him questions about what he was going to do about the issues of today, such as the environment, the Kinder Morgan pipeline, and the healthcare of B.C.  He answered most of our questions with personal experiences or stories.

We really appreciated the time that Steve and Selina spent with us – we had a rich conversation after their presentations and the students have even more hard questions about provincial debts and balancing social needs with revenue generation.  The reflections written above are by Evan and Alex.