Although we are celebrating the centennial birthday for our City we must acknowledge we were not the first settlers to this area. The Kwikwetlem First Nation have called this area home for thousands of years.  We are proud to share this land and our history with them.

In 1853 Alexander McLean and his family were the first white settlers to this area.  Over the next 60 years more people migrated to our area.  In 1911 the Coquitlam Star newspaper headline was "What Pittsburgh is to the United States, so will [Port] Coquitlam be to Canada".  (INSERT PICTURE)

In 1912 the Mayor of Coquitlam, James Mars and Council applied to the Provincial Government to incorporate Port Coquitlam and on March 7th 2013 they were granted their request.  Mayor Mars resigned his post in Coquitlam and became the first Mayor of Port Coquitlam.  With the about 1500 people living in PoCo at that time and the CP Rail being built there were great hopes for our community.  In fact, on Inauguration Day Mayor Mars predicted the population of Port Coquitlam would be 10,000 people in 3 years.

Our early history is filled with pioneer families such as McLean, Atkins, Chambers, Black, Kelly, Mars, Rowland, Welcher, Hawthorne, Routley, Galer, Greer, Leigh, Kilmer, Milne, MacKenzie and of course Forrest.

However, over the next decade our city went through tough times, the Great War, a major fire, flood, influenza and the great depression. Port Coquitlam struggled for many years, in 1942 we still only had 1500 people live here. Then in the 50s, Port Coquitlam began the growth its forefathers predicted.  In fact, PoCo was the fastest growing community in Southwestern BC in the 50s.  In 1961 the population was 8,111.

Industry was coming to Port Coquitlam, creating jobs and fuelling a building boom.  In 1962 Council spent $450,000 and opened the Shaughnessy Underpass to connect North and South Port Coquitlam.

In 1970 the PoCo Trail Blazers started our crown jewel, the Traboulay PoCo Trail, which thousands of residents enjoy every month.   And in 1972, we opened the Port Coquitlam Recreation Complex, with one sheet of ice.  In 1971 our population was 19,500.

We continued to grow and urbanize over the next two decades; in 1986 we were 29,115 people, the Mary Hill Bypass opened, which opened up a major industrial growth in the Mary Hill Industrial Park that brought thousands of new residents to Port Coquitlam.

Today, over 56,000 people call Port Coquitlam home, we recently completed the Coast Meridian Overpass, connecting North and South Port Coquitlam. Port Coquitlam has one of the youngest average age in BC with the average age of our residents at just over 40 years-old.

Over the past 100 years sport, religion and culture have been major pillars of our community. We love our small town charm and tonight’s celebration is an example of just that.

I am honoured to be the Mayor of my hometown and look forward to continually work with our community to make it even better. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PORT COQUITLAM!!

One final note: I want to thank the members of our Spirit Committee Task Force who have worked very hard to organize the Centennial celebrations.  I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our City staff, who for the past 100 years have built our community and continue to serve with great pride.

In January, our church Riverside Community Church served at the Hope for Freedom MAT program located at Northside Church, Kingsway Campus. This is the 5th year Hope for Freedom has offered this program with support from the community. However, this is the first year the program has stayed at one church.

Here are some interesting facts from January:

Volunteering

• 132 volunteers plus shoppers / prayer team
• Each night there were on average 6 volunteers
• Each morning there were on average 5 volunteers
• Total of 927 hrs of volunteering

Food Facts

• Meals: 1165
• Average: 19 per meal night
• 50 4 litres milk
• 1440 eggs
• 600 drink boxes
• 600 sandwiches
• 600 fruit/pudding cups
• 2232 cups of coffee

The success of this program is based on a non-profit organization (Hope for Freedom) partnering with the community. We are all in this together, this is not a government issue or a NGO issues - it is a community issue. I am proud of our community in the Tri-Cities to come together and make a difference. We are leading the way in BC on reducing the number of people living on the streets. We should be proud of the love we are demonstrating through our actions but we are not done - we need to continually keep working until there is no one living on the street.

Today Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced legislation that will change the way we deal with persons who are found Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder. We know the impacts of this legislation here locally, as Darcie Clarke has to deal with the killer of her three children each year as he is eligible for release (http://www.tricitynews.com/news/119801634.html) Forcing the victim to deal with the pain and suffering each year, which does not allow them to move forward with their life. They law re-victimizes Darcie each year.

The new changes of the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act place the victim and the community first. The Federal Governments press release outlines the three accused main aspects of the new legislation:

Putting Public Safety First - the legislation would explicitly set out that public safety is the paramount consideration in the decision-making process relating to accused persons found to be NCR.

Creating a High-Risk Designation - the legislation would create a new designation to protect the public from high-risk NCR accused. Upon being designated by a court as high-risk, an NCR accused must be held in custody and cannot be considered for release by a review board until their designation is revoked by a court. The other consequences of being designated as a high-risk NCR accused include that their review periods could be extended to up to three years, such individuals would not be entitled to unescorted passes, and could only obtain an escorted pass in narrow circumstances and subject to sufficient conditions to protect public safety.

Enhancing Victims' Involvement - the legislation will enhance the safety of victims by ensuring that they are specifically considered when decisions are being made about accused persons found NCR; ensuring they are notified when an NCR accused is discharged; and allowing non-communications orders between an NCR and the victim.

This is a wonderful day for victims and the public.

There are many people responsible for championing this change. First, Darcie Clarke, her cousin Stacy Galt and brother Mike have been strong and passionate about this change. I am inspired how they have continued to remind society that there are victims and the pain continues long after the crime. They reminded us that this needs to change.

Dave Teixeira has worked extremely hard representing Darcie and ensuring that this issue is not forgotten. Dave working with local, provincial and federal elected officials to ensure that change is required. I know that Dave does not do this work to be recognized but it would be doubtful if the change would have been made if Dave was not championing the file.

Our MP James Moore was excellent, once he learned about the injustice that was occurring; he was like a dog with a bone. He met with the family to understand their pain that they are going through. Then James went to work and was the leader federally to bring this reform forward.

Thank you to all involved, this is proof that the system is working and we are working together. 

Last night Port Coquitlam hosted an education session with the City of Coquitlam and Port Moody. We invited Wally Oppal , the Commissionaire for the Missing Women’s Inquiry and Dr. Rick Parent to present their views of regionalization of policing in Metro Vancouver.

Mr. Oppal provided us with a very useful background on the Missing Women’s Inquiry, which was the base for his recommendations to have a regional police force. It is Mr. Oppal’s view that if we had a regional police force Willy Pickton would have been caught much earlier, therefore, lives would have been saved. Mr. Oppal made the same recommendation in his 1994 Commission report Inquiry into Policing in British Columbia. It is interesting to wonder if all of the recommendations where enacted in 1994 how many lives would have been saved. We will never know, but we need to learn from our mistakes.

Dr. Parent presented many scenarios to policing. One of the key questions that Dr. Parent posed was that the Metro Vancouver region is the only region in Canada and North America to police the way we do – Are we leaders or followers?

There was much discussion and questions about how policing has changed in the past 10 years since Mr. Pickton was charged. For example we have Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) , but Vancouver, Delta and Port Moody are not members. Today we have PRIME, which is a province wide record management system that all police forces use. Further the RCMP and City Police Forces are working together better than they have in the past.

There are many questions going forward and many models for regional policing. Last night’s session in Port Coquitlam is the first step, the Metro Vancouver region needs to have the same session. This is an important discussion for everyone to have, not just City Council, we need Provincial and Federal governments, and we need the community to start talking about the best way for us to move forward.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Port Coquitlam Community Bands Together to Launch Innovative Anti-Bullying Program This Tuesday, November 27

Port Coquitlam, B.C. – The community of Port Coquitlam is coming together in an unprecedented show of collaboration to stop bullying. On Tuesday, November 27 business leaders, with the support of the City of Port Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam Youth Society, RCMP, and School District 43, are launching the Be Someone anti-bullying program.

The program will contain measures never before undertaken in British Columbia to stop the cycle of bullying.

EVENT: Be Someone Program Launch
LOCATION: Riverside Secondary School
2215 Reeve Street, Port Coquitlam
Parking: Lot on north side of school facing Gates Park
DATE: Tuesday, November 27
TIME: 9:30am

The title of the campaign originates from a slide in the final video plea from 15-year-old Amanda Todd of Port Coquitlam, which stated, “I have nobody, I need someone.”

The goal of the program, led by Gary Mauris, President and Founder of Dominion Lending Centres, and Greg Moore, Mayor of Port Coquitlam, is to ensure that every child that is bullied can find someone, and that our community is there to be someone.

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Media Enquiries:
Rebecca Peters
Laura Ballance Media Group
604-637-6649 (direct)
604-762-2098 (mobile)
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I have been fascinated by happiness; what it means as an individual and how can we help to foster a happy society. There is good work happening at UBC which I have blogged about in the past. In fact, the UN has created a national happiness index.

This week Douglas Todd of the Vancouver Sun presented a four part series on Happiness. Today Todd outlined five things he has learned doing research for his four part series:

1. Happiness can be measured.
2. Happiness requires certain conditions.
3. Happiness is not about "having it all." Many people confuse happiness with success.
4. Happiness is a skill.
5. Happiness is embedded in the universe. 

Read more here. In fact Todd has an excellent blog I just discovered and will start reading on a regular basis. 

The journey to find happiness continues to move forward.

Last week, I presented to a public hearing regarding the potential impact of proposed changes to electoral boundary lines in B.C. The changes proposed by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission would split Port Coquitlam into three ridings, and would hamper the ability for Port Coquitlam to be represented by one MP effectively. Such an alignment would favour the other communities, whose higher populations would become the core of each riding. In effect, Port Coquitlam’s existing riding would be redistributed to bring up the population of the other ridings.

The proposal would place Port Coquitlam in three new ridings as follows:

• Coquitlam – Port Coquitlam
• Port Moody – Coquitlam
• Pitt Meadows – Maple Ridge

I spoke out against this plan and suggested a solution to revise the boundaries in a way which would leave Port Coquitlam within a single federal riding. There are undoubtedly many other options to create new boundaries. I am advocating that the City of Port Coquitlam be included into one federal riding. 

Mayor's Task Force on Business Development

Earlier this year I formed the Mayor's Task Force on Business Development Opportunities. Cllr. Mike Forrest is heading up the Task Force with help from Cllrs. Washington and West, along with members from the PoCo BIA and Chamber of Commerce. The goal of the Task Force is:

• Increase economic development opportunities in the City of Port Coquitlam.
• Identify challenges to doing business in the City.
• Identify potential opportunities to support, attract and retain businesses.
• Outline the City’s role in supporting businesses.
• Ensure City services and procedures are as business-friendly as possible.

To achieve these goals we need to hear from our business community. If you own a business in Port Coquitlam or conduct business in Port Coquitlam please take a couple minutes to share with us your thoughts.

Thank you for your time,

Greg
 

Langley Mayor Froese wearing a Terry Fox Ravens t-shirt. Thanks to the Terry Fox Boys for beating Walnut Grove senior boys basketball provincials. Mayor Froese was a good sport. 

The Countdown Begins! 

What's Planned

4 Ways to Get Involved

At this stage, there are four main ways to get involved: 

1. Community-building: Organizations, groups and businesses are invited to think about how they can incorporate a centennial theme and celebrate their own history during their events and activities in 2013.

2. Planning: Volunteers are needed for a number of subcommittees that will plan different centennial events.

3. Donations and sponsorships: Cash and in-kind donations will be needed to augment the grants that are being procured, to support both the staging of events and lasting legacies for the community.

4. Homecoming: The community is encouraged to seek out and invite former Port Coquitlam residents and colleagues to help celebrate the centennial next year.

For More Info: www.portcoquitlam.ca/100

I’m participating in the Variety BC Show of Hearts Telethon on Feb 11 from 7-9pm.

Call me at 604.529.3009 to make your donation

I am pleased to share Port Coquitlam Council's 2011-2012 Highlights that were presented at the January 9th Council meeting.

Over the past number of years we have experienced an increase in our assessed value for our homes; I am sure most of us are amazed that the house we purchased 15 years ago has more than doubled in price. That is a good thing if we were in the housing market 15 years ago, though this places pressure on young adults attempting to get into the housing market. However, there is another aspect of sky rocketing property values that goes unnoticed, that is how does increased property value affect our local businesses?

The past two years we have seen an increase averaging approximately 45% for ten businesses in our community, with two realizing an 80% increase in 2010. As a result their property tax will go up a similar amount. How? If the average property assessment for industrial properties goes up 3% but one property goes up 80%, the property tax rate is based on the average property value increase, which in this case is 3%. The difference of 77% will result in this one property’s property tax going up by 77% higher than the average. Year over year these impacts hurt our local businesses; it is not like the business has the ability to react or increase their revenue in the same time period, and the result is a reduction in their operating budget which could result in the loss of employment.

Local governments do not have the ability to reduce the increase property taxes to one property owner, nor do we have the ability to smooth the increase out over 10 years. These are the laws set out in the Community Charter, which is managed by the Provincial government.

Last year I wrote a letter to the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development suggesting that the Ministry should work with BC Assessment to consider the option of re-adjusting the assessment calculation for properties that have major assessment value increases in a given year and to spread the increase over several years.

As local governments we are always working hard to keep our property taxes as low as possible and to maintain a livable community, where our residents can work and live in the same community. However, with businesses being pulled in many directions and many of them being recruited to relocate to the US and elsewhere we need to be working together to reduce the sudden increase in property values that result in an increase in property tax.

The most frequently asked questions this time of year – did you make a new year’s resolution?

I am not one who makes new year’s resolutions, I am constantly making goals for myself throughout the year. I like to challenge myself and push for higher achievement. I know sometimes my goals are far reaching and might be impossible to achieve, but that drives me forward.

I am going on to my tenth year as a member of the Port Coquitlam city council. A lot has changed in the past ten years, including my role. I am proud to be the Mayor of Port Coquitlam, sometimes I have can’t believe that I am Mayor of the community I grew up in. That is the positive side and on the other side, in the past ten years my fitness level gone from excellent to poor.

This year as a family we have set a goal to get back into shape, with the main goal to run the Vancouver Sun Run and the Terry Fox Run. As many of you know, I am married to someone who has always maintained an excellent fitness level.

So, Erin is going to be Madison and mine fitness trainer. This will not only test her motivational skills it will also test our relationship.

I will post updates on this blog and my Facebook. Maybe if I am accountable to the community I will succeed in this goal. Wish me luck, I will need it.

I hope you have a successful 2012 and you reach for your goals and ask others for help along your path to success.

Greg

The Coquitlam Now - Readers Choice Award

It was an honour to be voted by the residents of the Tri-Cities as the Tri-City Politician of the Year for 2010. I believe that this honour should be shared with my colleagues on Port Coquitlam City Council and the hard working staff. Together, we are working very well together to deliver good governance to our community.

I know that when we step forward to represent our community we do our best with the education, skills and knowledge we have gained over the years. Each day we come to work to make our community a better place. We don't always agree however it is important to have the dialogue and ensure everyone is heard and discussion is encouraged.

Thank you to our community, I look forward to working with you to make Port Coquitlam shine.

2010 Highlights and 2011 Outlook

2010 was a very productive year for the City of Port Coquitlam, we came together as a community and country to celebrate the Olympics and a month later we opened the Coast Meridian Overpass. Both of these items will provide our community with a lasting legacy. 2011 appears to be a busy year as we work to improve our transportation system, environment and provide economic development opportunities for our community.

Below are some of the highlights of 2010 and outlook for 2011. The comments below are from a series of Tweets I have sent over the past couple weeks.

2011 Outlook

• 2011 Outlook: continuing to set aside 1% of taxes and utilities for future infrastructure replacement
• 2011 Outlook: implementing the Environmental Strategic Plan and Heritage Strategic Plan
• 2011 Outlook: continuing to facilitate the development of the Dominion Triangle area
• 2011 Outlook: completing the Pitt River Intertidal Wetland, a new 23-acre habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife
• 2011 Outlook: considering expansion of food scraps collection to multi-family and business properties
• 2011 Outlook: complete Broadway Street reconstruction and improvements to Coast Meridian Road and the Pitt River corridor
• 2011 Outlook: completing and implementation of Port Coquitlam’s 2020 Vision, the new Corporate Strategic Plan

Read more...