My so-called options

The election is just around the corner. As promised, I've had a look at the Burnaby-New Westminster candidates...

Liberal: Mary Pynenburg

Pynenburg is a member of the Burnaby Board of Trade and the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce, like any good Liberal should be. She is focussing her campaign on three key themes that her constituents have brought to her attention: accountability, community, and prosperity. Unfortunately, like many politicians, she has it stuck in her head that the prosperity people are interested in is the monetary kind, not the kind that comes from inside. Her community development scheme does nothing to get to the heart of the real issues that drag all communities down. And her accountability plan includes a number of listening sessions and open houses, neither of which mention any kind of two-way dialogue. Pynenburg ran last time around, and was beaten by only 329 votes.

Conservative: Marc Dalton

This ex-pastor has taught elementary school and highschool, and has been in the army. He has a B.A. in French and History, and a Master's degree in Leadership, but that doesn't mean you can learn leadership in the classroom. His website certainly shows no leadership, indeed, it serves to make him look like just another Conservative tool, since anything important he could have to say is replaced by a link back to the Conservative website. Dalton doesn't live in this riding, but he told reporters at The Record that he would move here if elected on Monday.

NDP: Peter Julian

My current MP, Julian is the NDP's critic for International Trade and Globalization, Persons with Disabilities, Transportation, Treasury Board and Natural Resources. He maintains a presence in the community, and it seems he's accomplished a lot during his year and a half in office, but he has no mention of what his promises are for the next term in office. According to The Record, Julian is "running on his reputation" - a reputation for being a man who gets things done, since he was named both most active rookie and most active MP from B.C. during his first elected term in office.

Green: Scott Janzen

Janzen's priorty is "making sure we have a sustainable future for future generations." He joined the Green Party because he considers it to be the only party that shares that priority. He doesn't say why running as an independent isn't an option. Family is very important to Janzen, and if elected, he promises to "showcase Burnaby as a model for other municipalities." Uh... what about New West?

...

In the end, there are two kinds of campaign promises: Those I'm afraid won't be kept and those I'm afraid will be kept.