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David MacKenzie, VVLA council candidate

David MacKenzie: Tourism a vital part of local economy

Proust Questionnaire

Name

: David MacKenzie

Political experience:

I have served on several municipal & provincial boards & committees (Recreation, Tourism, Transportation)

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Having a terrible head cold in July.

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

Not having a terrible head cold in July.

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines of fiction?

Underdog.

Who are your favourite characters in history?

Churchill, John F. Kennedy

Your favorite musician?

Green Day, VSO, Norah Jones.

The quality you most admire in a woman?

Honesty.

The quality you most admire in a man?

Integrity.

What natural ability would you have liked to have had?

I am quite content with the abilities that I have been blessed

with.

Your most marked characteristic?

I am passionate in my beliefs.

What do you most value in your friends?

Loyalty.

What is it you most dislike?

Ignorance.

What is your motto?

Do not go where the path may lead; Go instead where there is

no path and leave a trail.

David MacKenzie transferred into Pemberton because of work as the general manager of the Pemberton Valley Lodge. Prior to coming here 18 months ago he worked and lived in Jasper, another small mountain community located by a significant alpine resort.

While he admits to not having read the Official Community Plan in its entirety, MacKenzie’s feeling is that it does not adequately address the needs of the community. As anecdotal evidence, he points to the number of townhomes on the market currently standing vacant.

"My feeling on development is that we need to address Smart Growth in our community and I think this is where we might be missing opportunities," says MacKenzie.

"While we have a number of new residential/retail mixed buildings on the market we haven’t attracted any new business. In fact, all we’ve done is displace current businesses that have moved out of older buildings into new ones. What do we do with all the empty space?"

He describes himself as being "very much in favour of boundary expansion" but believes that decision cannot be made in isolation.

"We need to hear more from people who live in the valley as to what their thinking on the issue is," he says. "It’s my personal belief that as an elected official you have to listen to what the people want and that we’re there to represent them and their voice."

He says that what he’s hearing is that most people he’s been talking to are in favour of expanding the village boundaries.

"Everyone wants recreation facilities and we realize to get that we have to have a viable tax base. Part of our tax base might come from boundary expansion."

When it comes to affordability, MacKenzie thinks the bigger picture needs to be examined.

"Considering the average income in our community I really have to wonder how many people can afford the housing that we currently have. There’s a bigger picture connected to that and that’s the sustainability of our community," he says.

"One of the things I hope to bring to the table very strongly is my vested interest in tourism because it has so much economic sustainability connected to it."

MacKenzie, who is also president of Tourism Pemberton, feels that the plans are being put in place to increase tourism opportunities in terms of both business development and job creation.

"We have some great tourism assets in the community like the outdoor products that we have, the B&Bs and we now have some enhanced accommodation and perhaps we’ll develop further tourism facilities in the future as we create Pemberton as a destination," says the tourism professional.

MacKenzie points out that in developing Pemberton as a destination, the spin-offs would reach all aspects of the business community as tourists would have needs to fulfill other than recreation.

"They’d use our gas stations, our pharmacy, they’d dine in our restaurants."

On the issue of recreation, MacKenzie believes that the people have spoken very clearly. He supports the referendum on borrowing funds because he feels it’s time ground was broken.

"I don’t think people are happy with more discussions, more planning and more committees. They want to see something built. And that’s what I hope to achieve by going on council. And with my team of running mates I think we’re very committed to making sure that we produce recreational services."

MacKenzie considers Pemberton’s relationship to Mount Currie as very important and reflects the need to consider the area as a whole.

"It’s not Pemberton, it’s not Mount Currie, it’s 'The Valley,' that’s everyone from Birken on in. And Mount Currie is an important part of our community. With every decision we make we have to make sure that they are included in on that. We have to make sure that there’s always open dialogue," he says. "We have to be very transparent in everything we do."



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