• We can do better here in the City of North Vancouver.
• We can do better at protecting the safety and well-being of everyone on the North Shore.
• We can do better at ensuring that development in CNV is brought back under control, to make sure development comes AFTER infrastructure that supports growth.
• We can do better at pushing senior levels of government to fairly fund transit for the North Shore, to end gridlock and deliver support for affordable housing.
• We can do better at making sure the City of North Vancouver leads Canada in providing a broad range of housing options designed to make home ownership a reality.
• We can most certainly do better at guaranteeing government transparency, in order to restore trust, deliver sound fiscal management and reign in tax increases.
• Jeremy Cato knows we can do better, and is rolling up his sleeves to prove it — to create a better CNV that works for you.
Thank you for taking the time. Let’s get right to it.
If you want a career politician, I’m not your candidate. If you want a hard-working councillor who believes in managed growth, smart planning, affordable housing, transparency, responsiveness, and a livable city filled with opportunities and free of the worst of gridlock and safety worries, then I hope you will consider giving me your vote.
Who is Jeremy Cato?
Who am I? Professionally, I’m a writer, editor, broadcaster and teacher. Personally, I’ve raised a family here in North Vancouver and my 28-year-old son attends medical school in Australia. He hopes to return to Canada to practice medicine. For fun, I cycle, ski, and am a fan of movies, history and sports. I earned an Arts degree at UBC, and did my master’s degree in education, also at UBC.
Why I am running for CNV Council
I’m running for council because like many of you, I believe that development in CNV is out of control. The race to “densify” North Vancouver is having a negative impact on our quality of life. Our neighborhoods are being overwhelmed with the disruptions, noise and gridlock that come with poorly planned and badly executed development.
We can do better. Development should be grounded in good planning, to ensure there is infrastructure to support growth, people and services — and this includes first-rate public transit.
Why do 70% of folks in the city rely on their car as the primary means of transport? Because they have to, because there is no viable alternative. Until we get a firm commitment from provincial and federal governments to fund real rapid transit for the North Shore, all large-scale projects should be put on hold while we take the time to assess how we’re going to manage growth, and while local government relentlessly pushes provincial and federal governments for our fair share of transit billions.
This brings me to housing. High-quality public transit allows folks to trade in their cars for transit passes – but that only works if that transit is accessible, affordable, reliable, convenient and sustainable. Taking the cost of owning and operating a car out of the family budget is huge – often in the range of $500-$1,000 a month, or more. Those monies can then be used to support housing or the other expenses of stretched families and individuals. Transit not only helps ease gridlock, but also underpins efforts to fight climate change, while easing the financial burdens on families and individuals.
I also believe that while projects and plans to provide below-market housing are important and essential, we have not done enough to create opportunities and pathways for home-ownership on a broader scale, an affordable scale. Rent-to-own initiatives, for example, hold the potential to create a pathway to what for generations has been the backbone of stability: the family home.
In this election, I am stepping forward as a regular guy and a concerned citizen who has studied the challenges we face here in North Vancouver. I am rolling up my sleeves, getting to work on finding and implementing real answers to the gridlock, the housing affordability issues, the frustration with lack of government transparency, and the erosion of green spaces like dog walking parks, play areas for children, and community garden spaces.
We can do better. Let’s do it together.
Putting infrastructure before rampant development… easy win for my vote, we on the north shore sorely need that.