Upcoming byelection

The Burquitlam Community Association recently held an all candidate's meeting for the upcoming by-election.  Bits of it are appearing on their website.  The format was interesting.  I didn't get the feeling that everyone was given a fair shake at the questions, first of all.  This was unfortunate as there were some questions I was hoping to hear the answers from specific people and seemingly randomly someone else would be called. 
One question I did wonder about was the question about someone having to be resident in Coquitlam to run.   Apparently the criteria is:

A person is qualified to be nominated, elected, and to hold office as a member of local government if they meet the following criteria:

• Canadian citizen;
• 18 years of age or older on or before general voting day;
• resident of British Columbia for at least 6 months immediately before the day nomination papers are filed; and
• not disqualified by the Local Government Act or any other enactment   from voting in an election in British Columbia or from being nominated for, being elected to, or holding office.
   

 So I guess having someone who doesn't live in Coquitlam is best for Coquitlam?  Well why not?  They can't do worse than someone who marginalizes Burquitlam because they live a half hour away on the eastern edge of the city. 

Burquitlam is a funny area - on the eastern edge of Burnaby and western edge of Coquitlam.  This area has a slightly higher aging population than the rest of Coquitlam.  The area has a higher ethnic content based on language spoken at home, compared to the rest of Coquitlam. Not surprisingly the household income in Burquitlam is less than the rest of Coquitlam.  It is understandable that people in this area are upset about their taxes rising.  But the reality is that as the metro Vancouver area moves here with the access to transit, rents and taxes will increase.  Sadly that means some of the people who have been here for awhile may be driven out.

But it doesn't have to mean that we let people who don't even go through this area on a daily basis make decisions about what is best for us.  Interesting to note that a candidate, when asked how he could possibly justify representing Burquitlam since he had never been to a meeting, side-stepped the question.  Interesting to note that only two candidates and one current Councillor have even been to the Burquitlam Community Association meeting.  Let's leave it at that.