IT specialist Riyaz Lakhani believes Port Coquitlam could have done better in its recent deal with Telus.
The deal to bring high-speed fibre optic technology to the city is positive overall, Lakhani said, but PoCo city hall should have asked for more in return for allowing the communications company to dig up roads.
"To be honest, it's great that Telus is coming in," the 10-year PoCo resident said, "but it would have been nice to see WiFi over the whole city. There could have been better negotiation. They could have done a lot more."
Lakhani also holds strong views on tax increases, public transit, online crime and the Fremont connector. On the latter, he chooses Devon Road as his preference north of Prairie Avenue because "I think it has the least effect on residents."
The city of Coquitlam should also be footing the bill for part of it as Burke Mountain homeowners will be the primary commuters on the road. "Coquitlam is going to be benefitting from [Fremont] because of the easy access to the Mary Hill bypass. The prices of their homes are going to go up with this ease of access that we're providing them."
As for the bus system, Lakhani rates it as poor. His son takes public transit to get to and from school and "it's not very quick. We need to do a lot more about that."
The first-time candidate said he would like to fix the discrepancy between residential and institutional building. Recent permit values for homes in PoCo are millions of dollars more than for civic facilities and "we are now playing catch up."
As a councillor, Lakhani said he would also like to see the RCMP spend more time tackling online predators and scam artists who are preying on vulnerable residents, saying he knows of a local senior who was taken for hundreds of dollars.
Website: riyazlakhani.ca
