My name is Stephan Sun. I immigrated to Canada when I was 11 and I went to elementary school, high school and university here in Canada.
I am proud to say that I am a first generation immigrant and my mother wanted my sister and I to have a better life, so she brought us here to achieve that.
I decided to run in the election this year for councillor because back where I am from, Taiwan, corruption amongst government officials and elected officials is very prevalent.
When I learned about the incident involving the Delta Police Chief’s wife a few years ago and the subsequent funds used through the department’s budget for public relations after the fact, I was shocked that something like this could happen in my beloved city.
I am terribly disappointed that in my view, the chief has such power with little to no oversight from the Delta Police Board. This is so fiscally irresponsible.
In my experience, it’s hard to find such leniency being placed on civilians and people who aren’t in positions of power such as you and I.
I hope to make everybody more accountable for their actions, especially those in power and if I were elected, I would hope every single one of you hold me accountable.
I believe Delta council should have more control and say over the police budget and to reduce their reckless spending. Alternatively we can re-direct the money on creating more market rental housing.
These are the reasons why I decided to run for office.
I know I can make a difference.
What are your election issues?
Rental housing crisis: I am a renter myself so more than anyone I understand and sympathize with not only how difficult it is to find a rental place but the increasing rent prices. I seek to be more proactive and create a lot more market-rate rental housing for those who are qualified to rent but just simply no place to rent from.
Delta Police budget: While 99% of the police officers I hold highest regards to, there’s always one bad apple in the bunch. I plan to not only reduce the police budget but to put restrictions on it so no single police officer, whether the chief or down to a rookie constable can spend the taxpayer’s money without the elected representative’s approval.
Delta firefighters. I took a meeting with representative from our Firefighters Association and it was brought up that ever since the future establishment of the LNG ports and as well as the climate change, they’re stretched very thin and would not be able to handle two major incidents at once since on average there’s only 35 firefighters on duty daily. Instead of playing catch up, I plan to table the discussion to move budget from other departments to make sure we save lives first.
BC Ambulance Service. Ambulances are managed at a provincial level and during the heat wave; Delta’s stationed ambulances were all pulled to help other municipalities, resulting in long wait times and causing unnecessary deaths to our city. I was told by one of the firefighters that at one point they had to wait up to seven hours just for an ambulance because fire trucks are not equipped to carry patients. Delta needs to work with the provincial government and other municipalities to ensure the safety and wellness of our residents.
