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Annand enters the race for a council seat

Nomination period ends Sept. 14
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annand declares Longtime Whistlerite Gord Annand is entering the race for a council seat this fall. photo by hailey elise / courtesy of the whistler public library

To hear it from him, there wasn't much behind Gord Annand's decision to run for council on Oct. 20.

"It's rather simple," he said. "I've been active in the not-for-profit volunteer community for a long time, and just want to have an extension of my involvement in the community. Nothing more, nothing less."

Annand's first experience with Whistler was in 1965 when he and his wife Susan rented in the community, and their first permanent investment came in 1988.

The Annands have been full-time residents since 2004.

Over the years, Annand has been heavily involved in the community, including sitting on boards such as the Whistler Public Library and coordinating support for events like Cornucopia and Ironman.

He received a Civic Service Award from mayor and council for his volunteer efforts in 2014, and Canada's Governor General David Johnston presented him with the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers in 2017.

"I'm recognized for kind of a can-do attitude, and we've moved forward in the not-for-profit community and the other areas in the community, and now look to resolve some of the issues (at the municipal level)," he said.

The most prominent of which is housing.

"All the focus has been on the rental housing side of things, and that's important, but affordability is a huge factor and we're losing people in the community because of the affordability factor," he said. "It stymies economic development."

Annand also takes issue with the resignation of the Whistler 2020 Development Corp. (WDC) board earlier this year.

"I don't know the circumstances, I wasn't at the table, but for the brain trust that was the WDC to just evaporate, it's a major, major concern, because they did a lot of good in the community and they were doing it at no cost," Annand said.

"So if the resolve is to move forward with more levels of bureaucracy, that is both A: inefficient and B: extremely costly."

Annand sees more questions than answers when looking to Whistler's future, and in addressing them, he sees a need for collaboration.

"This current council seems to struggle working collaboratively, so hopefully we can get a group at the table who will maybe—not have the same opinions—but respect each other's opinions, and move forward as one," he said.

"What is the plan? ... There doesn't appear to be any sense of plan to get to where everybody knows we have to go, from the rental side of things and from the affordability side of things. And in most cases, without a plan, the results are bad decisions."

A campaign site will be launched in the coming days at www.gordannand.ca.

Annand joins WRM strata operations manager Brian Reid, retired BC Ferries captain Janice Lloyd, former councillor Ralph Forsyth, retired schoolteacher Dawn Titus and incumbent Jen Ford in the race for a council seat. Incumbent councillor Jack Crompton will run for mayor.

The nomination period ends Friday, Sept. 14. Those interested in running can find more info at www.elections.bc.ca.