Justin Greenwood, Conservative
Current occupation: Vancouver Area Manager for a Real Estate Media Company
What are the three most pressing issues facing Langley residents, and how will you address them?
Public Transit: I believe one of the urgent issues we have in Langley is the public transit we currently have. In Langley, 17 cents of every litre of gasoline we purchase goes directly to TransLink. What have we seen for our kick in? Next to nothing. I will advocate strongly for at-grade LRT in the Valley.
The migration to the Fraser Valley because of housing costs and population growth is not new and won’t be ending any time soon. The community buses along with HandyDART need to be increased as well.
HandyDART: The shortage of HandyDART service ties into another issue in Langley, our Seniors. HandyDART is an essential service for many of them. The federal Liberals have just cut the Public Transit Tax Credit, so our seniors are dealing with low bus service and higher costs.
It’s also become hard on them to find affordable housing in the city here. I would work alongside our local government to secure more purpose-built rental sites. Our local officials in Langley City have done some good work as they have one of the fastest building permit turnarounds in the Lower Mainland.
Homelessness: Last, but certainly not least, homelessness in Langley is probably the most urgent issue we have. This is an issue that has been evolving since 2005. There was a forum last October at the Cascades Casino Ballroom. Since then, all I’ve read or seen is that something is hopefully starting soon? Aside from being Langley’s representative in Victoria, I would also be a leader in the community.
There should have been proactive measures in place years ago instead of having to react to it now. We are very rich in community organizations and churches here in Langley. I would like to see us work on this as a community first, instead of depending on the government to solve it. I would help and take the lead to facilitate that.
The church which I attend recently released a statement about homelessness and I’d like to quote a part from it, because as a community we need to continue, “efforts to find solutions that will not only relieve the suffering inherent in homelessness but also implement measures that will help homeless individuals become self-reliant and deal with criminal elements that prey on the homeless.” I believe the key phrase in that is helping them to “become self-reliant.”
The homeless don’t just need hand-outs or a temporary place to stay, becoming self-reliant should and must be the main goal. I believe that’s achievable.
A few more things…
Where were you born/raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Victoria and raised in the small town of Saanichton on the Saanich Peninsula of Vancouver
Island. I currently live in Langley City.
If you have run for/served in office before, what have you learned? If not, why are you running now?
I’m running now because I was tired of having no true conservative option. So instead of waiting for one, I
chose to become that option.
Why would you make a good representative for your constituents in the legislature?
I would make a good representative for Langley because I would bring our vote back in the legislature. Our
vote has belonged to the 2 Liberal leaders since 2005. My vote would be a free conservative vote that truly
represents the constituents of Langley. Our party supports free votes in the legislature.