With his years at the City of Burnaby and City of Delta, George Harvie says you can’t match his experience when it comes to the inner workings of local government.
“Education, environment, economics – all these things were of great interest to me,” said Harvie during an interview with the Optimist last week. “My education and experience took me on a great path through the environmental health department in Burnaby. I progressed quite quickly for my age and became the head of the department. Then council asked me to make a bold move into the head of human resources.”
In 1990 Harvie was promoted to deputy city manager in Burnaby.
“We had a very good city manager at the time and I wanted to finish my career as a city manager, so an opportunity presented itself when Mayor (Lois) Jackson asked me to consider coming to Delta,” he said. “We had already moved to Delta, bought our first house in Boundary Bay and lived there up until five years ago. It was a great place for our two children to grow up.”
Harvie said through door knocking during the campaign he has seen the area transition back to where it was, on a much bigger scale mind you, with young families in Beach Grove and Boundary Bay.
“There are a lot of baby buggies and kids out playing. It was a great support system for us in those days and I see that again,” he said.
Upon retirement, he left on a long-awaited vacation with his wife where he said he made the decision to seek the mayor’s chair.
“Regardless of what some have said, I hadn’t made up my mind. A lot of people were asking me,” he said. “When we got back that’s when I made the final decision to take this journey.
“I really have 27 years of every Monday experience [of going to council]. In Burnaby I was there every Monday for 10 years and for 17 years now in Delta, so yes, I have seen it all. I have seen great experiences at council and some I have personally never liked. I felt my job in Delta was not over. There were things in Delta that I couldn’t do as city manager that I want to do as mayor.”
Harvie said he is proud of his Achieving for Delta team.
“I wanted to have candidates who have heart – who really believe and care about people and care about making a difference – that was my number one priority,” he said. “When I went to ask Dan Copeland, there is no question where his heart is. He has made a career out of helping people. Cal Traversy – same thing. Two stand-up individuals who don’t have council experience, but they have been working for the city in public safety and that makes a huge difference.”
He said he also wanted to reach out to the South Asian community and when he met Param Grewal there was an instant connection.
“He had the same vision as us. We are so fortunate to have him on our team,” added Harvie. “I wanted to connect with young voters and get younger people elected to council. In Dylan Kruger, I was so impressed with his academic and educational background. Having his skill-set on council will be a great benefit. With Alicia, our farming community needs a farmer and a young entrepreneur on council and I couldn’t think of anyone more suitable than her.”
He said the addition of Jackson, who is seeking a council seat after 19 years as mayor, provides a wealth of experience and mentorship to the younger candidates on the team.
“I’m delighted to have her experience. We need that experience at council and at Metro Vancouver. I know Mayor Jackson has a lot more to offer,” he said.
Harvie also said it was important to have a strong connection with the school board.
“In Erica [Beard], Jessie [Dosanjh], Daniel [Boisvert] and Sujay [Nazareth] we have great individuals who care about our community and want to make a difference.
“Our team collectively is very well-known and everyone has worked very hard. We are truly a team in every sense of the word.
Harvie said overall he has enjoyed the campaign and speaking to the residents of Delta.
“I will admit I have been discouraged at times from the comments made by the other candidates, which have been false and misleading,” he said. “But I have told the team we can’t let the negative, false comments take us off our game and off our goal. We will not run a negative campaign. It’s not my style and I don’t think it is deserving of the good people we have living in Delta.
“What I have been listening to is the individuals when they open their door when I knock. That is the most important thing for me. We have been getting tremendous feedback at the door. We have great people living here who care deeply about this community. I share that love for our community and want to make it even better.”
