Wayne Marklund's first run for political office was last year in the provincial riding of Burnaby North. He was listed as an independent on the ballot because the party in which he was a director-at-large, the BC Conservatives, filed its paperwork too late with Elections BC. In that run, Marklund gained just 2.3% of the vote, losing to BC Liberal Richard T. Lee.
Because the Burnaby businessman enjoyed campaigning, he submitted his nomination documents to PoCo city hall to run for a civic seat. "I'm not doing it for the money," he said. "I'm doing for the citizens of Port Coquitlam."
His eight years as a PoCo resident have been an eye opener, he said, and he's heard plenty of complaints about the RCMP.
"There's a lot of crime and the response time is slow," Marklund said, noting theft from homes and vehicles top his list. "I believe the RCMP should be dealing with bigger issues than just issue tickets to jaywalkers or people on cell phones. They should be dealing with drug dealers and gangs."
Marklund is in favour of dismissing the Mounties to create a municipal police force, which he believes would be cheaper in the long run. He wants to share protection services with Port Moody "and eventually Coquitlam could come on board and form an alliance" in the Tri-Cities.
Marklund, who said he watches most city council meetings rather than attend them in person, also doesn't believe Port Coquitlam should be "subsidizing" Coquitlam by building a Fremont connector. Coquitlam will benefit with additional property taxes, he said, "and you don't see that money coming in to improve our roads."
At the time of the interview, Marklund was unclear about the three options for Fremont north of Prairie but called for more environmental study before the arterial route is built.
Website: waynemarklund.ca
