The NOW asked all Burnaby candidates to submit a profile to help readers learn more about them.
The following is a profile of Independent candidate in Burnaby North Martin Kendell.
Name
Martin Kendell
Current occupation
I am a stay-at-home parent during the week and a Dispatch Clerk for the City of Vancouver on the weekend
Short biography
I am a proud Burnaby resident who has called this city home for the last 22 years. I started the Clean Up Burnaby campaign in 2021 and was subsequently named as a Community Hero by the Vancouver Canucks.
Why are you running for provincial office?
After the sudden collapse of BC United and its subsequent merger with the BC Conservatives, it became apparent to me that there was a definite possibility that the voters of Burnaby North may only have two polarized voting options in the upcoming provincial election. As a moderate green conservative, I think the residents in this riding deserved an independent third option that would advocate for a better and greener future for this province while not being afraid to tackle the many issues that we face here in Burnaby.
On top of that, we need a proper plan where we can reign in the out of control and wasteful government spending that has escalated in the past seven years under the current BCNDP government that puts our long-term financial future in doubt.
What are the top three issues facing Burnaby today, and what are your plans to address them?
The top three issues facing Burnaby are affordable and sustainable housing, reinvigorating a crumbling healthcare system and the reigning in the overall cost of living.
We need to implement smarter, cheaper, faster and more efficient methods of home building such as 3D printing using revolutionary materials such as concrete mixed with recycled plastic material. We also need to encourage gentle densification in single-family neighbourhoods as well as encourage ownership options such as building co-op housing to accommodate low-income people and creating rent-to-own housing programs to help young families.
We need to revamp a bloated and inefficient healthcare system by streamlining six health regions into one provincial authority and removing a level of bureaucracy that is stealing money that be used for frontline services to benefit BC residents.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet in this province with rapidly escalating taxation by the NDP, skyrocketing housing costs and unpredictable inflationary costs. The government needs to enact legislation that will control overall inflation and encourage long-term cost certainty for all British Columbians.
What is your housing situation? Are you a homeowner, renter or something else (describe)? Do you own your rental property/properties?
I own a two-bedroom apartment in the Gilmore subdivision of Burnaby with my wife and two children. I have been our building’s Strata Council President for 15 of the last 17 years.
Contact information
- Website: martinkendell.ca
- Campaign office contact: [email protected]
- Social media handles and hashtags
- @BurnabyMartin - Twitter/X
- @MartinKendell - Threads
