In Conversation: Mayor’s Podcast and Letter

Tens of thousands of people attended last year’s month-long Burnaby Halloween Festival which generated $10.85 million in economic benefit for the city. This year, close to 30 events are taking place across Burnaby throughout October. From Saturday’s Monster Dash 5K which brings a flavour of Burnaby’s active, outdoor spirit, to film screenings, art installations, haunted tours, the Day of the Dead market and performances, and pop-up experiences across our town centres.

That result recognizes the work being done across our City over the past eight years, from delivering landmark protections for renters and fighting for the promised redevelopment of Burnaby Hospital to standing up to the provincial government’s one-size-fits all housing policies and helping to step in as a municipality and start filling the affordable housing gap ourselves.

When I came to Canada from Italy in 1959, building a new life here was much harder than it is today. That was true for Italians, but also for people from many other countries and cultures.

When I first ran for Burnaby City Council, becoming its first Punjabi Indo-Canadian councillor was not what motivated me. It had never occurred to me to run because I was Punjabi, and I certainly did not see myself as a candidate for my own community. I wanted to serve the whole city, just as every councillor should. It was only after I was elected that I fully understood the importance of what it meant to everyone in the community, to me and to our city.