With Aaron Gunn the new MP for North Island – Powell River, Powell River’s mayor offers his thoughts.
Monday night’s federal election saw Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn win with 31,356 votes, nearly 5,000 more votes than NDP candidate Tanille Johnston who had 26,357 votes.
City mayor Ron Woznow says out of all the candidates, Gunn was the only one to approach him to understand the opportunities and challenges of Powell River and how a federal representative can help.
“I was quite glad he won the election, given that he demonstrated a real interest in helping Powell River,” said Woznow.
“I think he is committed to doing his job as member of parliament, which is to represent all of his electorate and I think there are many things he can champion for us as member of the Opposition.”
Woznow hopes Gunn advocates for the redevelopment of the old mill site, adding getting funding will make the redevelopment less expensive for the developer.
Another issue he hopes Gunn advocates for in Ottawa is the drug-use epidemic.
“Most people are aware that we have the highest overdose rate in Canada, so I think the federal government can revisit one of their initiatives from the past, which was to remove any responsibility for drug traffickers,” said Woznow.
He hopes for housing, the federal government will remove GST from new housing, look at taxes for sales of houses, and to remove some of the GST on supply lines.
