UPDATE NOV. 11: WE ARE UP TO 90 CANDIDATES SIGNED! CHECK OUT THE NEWEST LIST HERE.

VANCOUVER, BC: With less than two weeks before municipal voting day, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has announced that 86 candidates for mayor and council have signed the CTF’s Contract with Taxpayers.

“This commitment to taxpayers is unprecedented in its strength and diligence,” said Jordan Bateman, the CTF’s British Columbia director. “These candidates aren’t just talking the talk, they are walking the walk—putting their own salaries on the line to keep property taxes as low as possible.”

The Contract with Taxpayers includes ten points, including keeping tax increases at or below the provincial rate of inflation, encouraging direct democracy, supporting transparency in expenses and a Municipal Auditor General and resisting downloading from senior levels of government.

Candidates signing the Contract have promised to introduce a Taxpayer Protection Bylaw in their community if elected. This bylaw would enshrine the Contract’s principles and enforce a provision for a 15 per cent mayor and council pay cut if property taxes are raised beyond the rate of inflation without explicit public consent. This is similar to what the B.C. premier and cabinet face when the province is in deficit.

“It’s not enough to hear about candidates wanting to keep taxes low at election time. We’ve all seen that song and dance too many times,” said Bateman. “The Taxpayer Protection Bylaw would ensure taxpayers’ rights are put first and foremost in every civic decision. It would shape how spending decisions are made, by ensuring revenue is available before the money goes out the door. This should be part of the DNA of city halls across B.C.”

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A list of Contract-signing candidates, broken down by community, is attached.

Contract, Backgrounder and Draft Taxpayer Protection Bylaw are available here.

Contract with Taxpayers 2011 Signees

Please note: this is not an endorsement by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, merely a list of the 90 candidates who have signed our Contract with Taxpayers, pledging to bring in a Taxpayer Protection Bylaw if elected.

Listed by community, in alphabetical order:

Abbotsford: Mayoralty candidates Meghann Coughlan and Travis J. Daleman; Council candidates Kevin
Chapman, Vince Dimanno

Burnaby: Mayoralty candidate Tom Tao (TEAM Burnaby); Council candidates Jeffrey Chiu (TEAM
Burnaby), Jim Favaro (TEAM Burnaby), June Jeffries (TEAM Burnaby), Lee Rankin (TEAM Burnaby)

Central Saanich: Mayoralty candidate Christopher Graham, Council candidate James McNulty

Colwood: Mayoralty candidate Brian Tucknott; Council candidates Teresa Harvey, Duane MacNeill, Rick
McKay, Ernest Robertson

Coquitlam: Council candidate Andy Shen

Courtenay: Council candidate John Van Egmond

Creston: Council candidate Ingrid Voigt

Duncan: Council candidate Cassandra Barfield

Fort St. John: Mayoralty candidate Don Irwin

Hope: Council candidates Cindy Koszegi, Walter Rawlinson

Kelowna: Mayoralty candidate Cal Condy; Council candidates Tasha Batt, Doug Cass, Elizabeth Fehr,
Mark Thompson

Langley City: Council candidate Darrell Krell

Langley Township: Mayoralty candidate Mel Kositsky; Council candidates Bert Chen, Steve Ferguson,
Charlie Fox, Rick Manuel, Sonya Paterson, Carey Poitras, Kim Richter, Dan Sheel, Misty van Popta

Maple Ridge: Council candidates Wendy Cook, Graham Mowatt, Graeme Ross, Grover Telford, Randy
Wagner

Mission: Council candidates Roman Bojczuk, Bobby Brar, Lee Hanlon, Arnold Muir

Nanaimo: Council candidate Brunie Brunie

New Westminster: Council candidates John Ashdown (VOICE), Gavin Palmer (VOICE)

North Cowichan: Mayoralty candidate Clayton Balabanov

North Vancouver District: Council candidate Wendy Qureshi

Port Coquitlam: Mayoralty candidate William Issa

Port Moody: Council candidates Tom Bell, Shane Kennedy

Prince George: Mayoralty candidate Bruce Fader; Council candidate Brad Gagnon

Quesnel: Mayoralty candidate Ron Paull

Revelstoke: Council candidate Linda Nixon

Richmond: Council candidates Peter Mitchell, Cliff Lifeng Wei, Michael Wolfe (RITE), Jun L. Wuyan

Saanich: Council candidate Ingrid Ip

Sooke: Council candidates Herb Haldane, Shaunna Salsman

Squamish: Council candidate Douglas Neville

Surrey: Mayoralty candidates Vikram J.S. Bajwa, Ross Buchanan; Council candidate Paul Griffin

Telkwa: Council candidate Adam Ethier

Thompson Nicola Regional District: Director candidate Sally Watson
Vancouver: Council candidates George Affleck (NPA), Sean Bickerton (NPA), Ken Charko (NPA), Cord
“Ted” Copeland, Rick Orser, Bill Yuen (NPA)

Vernon: Council candidates Scott Anderson, Bob Spiers

View Royal: Council candidate Ron Mattson

West Kelowna: Council candidate Gordon Ficke

West Vancouver District: Council candidate Gregg Henderson

Whistler: Council candidate Steve Anderson

White Rock: Mayoralty candidate Larry Anschell; Council candidates Brad Forster, Bruce McWilliam

Williams Lake: Mayoralty candidate Walt Cobb, Council candidate Steve Forseth

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