Mark MacDonald
Electoral Area C
Website: www.markmacdonaldareac.ca
Are you associated with or running as part of a slate? If so, which one?
No
Do you live in the municipality where you are running, and if so, for how long? If not, what is your connection to that community?
I have lived in Nanaimo since 1978 and in Area C for 12 years, and am a Director of the South Forks Nanaimo River Community Association.
What is your occupation, and for how long?
I have been a newspaper/magazine publisher since 1990, former owner of Business Examiner, and President of Communication Ink Media & Public Relations for almost 20 years.
Tell us about your previous elected and/or community experience.
I have led our own successful publishing, events and communications family businesses for 17 years with my wife Lise (Business Examiner and Communication Ink Media & Public Relations). Mark is an acknowledged community leader and contributor, and as President, guided the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce team to push for the expansion of Nanaimo Airport, and they were named BC Chamber of the Year in 2003.
A respected columnist, author and award-winning writer, Mark has published a business book titled: “It Worked For Them, It Will Work For Me”. I ran as a Conservative candidate in the 2015 federal election in Nanaimo-Ladysmith, and I am a Director of the South Forks Nanaimo River Community Association.
Why are you running? What’s your motivation?
I have consistently opposed tax increases in the Nanaimo area for decades, and I am greatly concerned that RDN continue to escalate with very little regard or return for taxpayers. Taxes have consistently climbed, without a noticeable improvement in services, and taxpayer-funded expenditures need to be re-evaluated and curtailed wherever possible.
What are your top three issues?
My top three issues are 3P’s:
• Potholes – There are too many to count on RDN roads, and these must be fixed.
• Protection – Continued support for fire departments and working towards a solution to dangerous bush parties, which create fire hazards.
• Permits – It takes far too long to get permits to build anything in the RDN, due to puzzling delays that add unnecessary costs and headaches for homeowners. The process must be streamlined.
What’s your vision for your community in 25 years?
Our area of the Regional District is growing in population, and we need to ensure we continue to support our volunteer fire protection services as we do, including have reasonably priced community service buildings to meet resident’s needs.
What’s one “big idea” you have for your community?
The RDN has had South Forks Nanaimo River residents paying an extra tax for 18 years to build a satellite fire hall and we still don’t have it, even though there’s a significant fund to build it, land set aside for it, and the Extension Fire Department and our residents want and need a reasonably priced satellite version of it to be built now to house a fire truck that can be a first responder to emergencies.
