Chamber of Commerce/Indo-Canadian Business Association/

FV Real Estate Board Council Candidates Meeting

Opening Statement:

I am James W. Breckenridge

I came to Abbotsford to provide the key support in the plan that allowed my brother to live sober.

Since then I have been a professional – a Chartered Accountant – a businessman, a sole proprietor and….

homeless on the streets of Abbotsford from Mental Illness; Stubbornness, a willingness to learn and change helped me find Wellness and housing.

My time in Abbotsford may not have gone quite the way I thought it would when I arrived 22 years ago but it has been interesting with some rather unique challenges and in the process Abbotsford has become my home.

I don’t like telling someone Abbotsford is my home and getting “my sympathies’ or some similar remark and I certainly am glad I wasn’t the person who, holidaying in Sweden, had the hotel staff tell them all about Abbotsford dumping chicken shit on the homeless.

Because Abbotsford is my home, needs to change and changes requires a new and different council I am running for council.

When I tell someone Abbotsford is my home I want to hear

Abbotsford? I love or I’d love living there.

 

Closing Statement:

The ideas, comments and thoughts on this stage this evening have made clear that we need more transparency in our municipal government and some way to get input from the community on issues and solutions.

I am concerned with the lack of understanding about what the state of the finances/budgets of both Federal and Provincial governments’ means for Abbotsford and the importance of Abbotsford getting its financial house in more than excellent shape.

I am sure you have noticed the changes and negative state of the economy.

Tonight we have heard references to provincial and federal governments downloading costs and calls for funding by the federal and provincial governments.

The reality is that although neither government may be going to close its doors in the immediate future, they are both in tight financial straights which is a prominent reason for the downloading.

The new city council is going to have to take this reality into consideration in all its planning.

Most importantly the state of the economy and the financial realities of provincial and federal finances means that Abbotsford City Council is going to have to be very prudent in its spending and financial planning/budgeting.

It is also imperative that Council attract the appropriate business, companies and employers to strengthen Abbotsford’s sustainability and survivability.