Longtime community advocate and two-time council candidate Ian Carmichael has made it a race for the mayor’s chair in Chilliwack.
Carmichael announced he will be challenging incumbent mayor Ken Popove in the upcoming municipal election on Oct. 15.
He ran in 2011 for a council seat and earned 546 votes, as well as in 2008, when he placed as first runner-up in the municipal council election, with 3,311 votes.
“I have been a student of public policy and governance issues for decades and believe strongly in the democratic process,” Carmichael said in a release.
A career background in natural resource management gave him experience in the forest industry and natural gas sectors as a supervisor and manager, as well as aviation and rail transportation. He’s covered all aspects of financial budgeting, cost analysis and accounting.
A father and grandfather, he’s also a member of Chilliwack Citizens for Change where he’s been involved in numerous community projects, and helped organize a bus to shuttle Chilliwack’s most vulnerable to voting booths in the 2019 federal election with the goal of increasing voter turnout.
“Our challenge as a community is multi faceted. Working within our urban containment zones, we must ensure that we maintain our agricultural land base, while providing a range of housing options and community spaces for those that are here, have recently arrived and those who will continue to come.
“A competitive environment attractive to employers is essential to the creation of lasting, family-sustaining incomes and a vital component to our continued success.”
His campaign slogan is: “Work for better.”
The mayoral candidate has deep roots in Chilliwack, have descended from pioneer settlers of the Fraser Valley who arrived in the mid-19th century to live on the unceded territory of the Sto:lo people.
One of his goals as mayor will be to prepare for the next generation of capable and talented leaders to come.
“Our city is at a cross roads. I believe my combination of management experience; knowledge of the local conditions and vision of the future will ensure our community will continue to prosper for years to come.”
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