Arjun Singh
Candidate for Mayor
Contact Information
Email: Click to Send
Website: Click to View
Twitter: Click to View
Phone: 250 377 1797
Personal Information
Resident of: Sahali
Age: 52
Current Occupation: City Councillor / Property Manager
Political Experience:
14 years on city council
8 years on the TNRD board
Past President, Union of BC Municipalities
Been called bad names a few times 🙂
Biography
Arjun was born and raised in Kamloops. His parents, Dr Gur and Mrs Manju Singh, immigrated to Canada from India in the 1960s. He holds an MA in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University and a Certificate in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement from Fielding Graduate University.
Arjun has served on a wide variety of Council committees during 13+ years on council. He has most recently chaired Council's development and sustainability committee . He is also a council representative on the Kamloops Airport Society and a Director of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
Arjun is a Past President and Life Member of the Union of BC Municipalities. He currently serves on the board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
He is a long time member of the Rotary Club of Kamloops and served as club President in 2015/16. He also volunteers as coach for the Kamloops RunClub.
Outside of his "Council time", Arjun helps manage an apartment complex, and enjoys travelling, good milk chocolate, technology, running, and spending time with his wife Marsha and their families.
*more detailed resume will be posted soon.
External Page Links
| KTW |
Posted: September 7, 2022 Mayoral candidate Singh wants to connect with voters |
Visit |
| KTW |
Posted: July 2, 2022 Singh re-elected to FCM board |
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| InfoTel |
Posted: March 4, 2022 Two in the running for next Kamloops mayor so far |
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| CFJC |
Posted: March 4, 2022 Singh officially launches campaign to become Kamloops’ next mayor |
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| CFJC |
Posted: April 25, 2022 Singh announces ‘bold ideas’ for Kamloops mayoral campaign |
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| Castanet |
Posted: March 4, 2022 Arjun Singh announces run for mayor’s chair, promises ‘bold ideas’ to come |
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| KTW |
Posted: March 4, 2022 Singh announces candidacy for Kamloops mayor in October election |
Visit |
Endorsements
Arjun Singh – Candidate for Mayor
I've known Arjun for many years and can assure you that the person that he appears to be is the person that he is. There is no fake persona, just a genuinely nice person. Arjun has a deep connection and an obvious love for our city that comes out in every conversation. His many years of service and experience on city council and in the community makes him the perfect choice for Mayor of Kamloops.
Answers to Questions from the Public
Many municipalities are facing ongoing problems and are dealing with staffing issues as part of the current health care crisis. Describe from a local government perspective how would you plan to recruit workers to our community?
Arjun Singh Answered
- involve the Mayor's office more in health care recruiting.
- work for affordable housing, great amenities, and building on our friendly caring community spirit.
- work with the Province and Federal government on encouraging immigration to Kamloops. Local governments, for example, have been pilot communities for aspects of the provincial nominee program.
Many communities are facing drug addiction challenges, homelessness and have seen increase in crime and property crimes. How would advocate for our disadvantaged community members and what solutions would you propose?
Arjun Singh Answered
Kamloops citizens are justifiably very concerned about the increase in social disorder and the decrease of community safety in our community. I have heard from many residents and businesses about this.
Covid has made this situation worse. Almost everyone is more anxious and the supports many rely on have not been able to operate as fully.
This is a complex societal issue that requires and demands all orders of governments work together.
I have spent time with many people on our streets, in our back alleys, and in our parks. It breaks my heart to see fellow human beings in such misery. If we provide folks a greater hand up, it is the right way and the most effective way to address community safety for all.
The most effective way to address these issues starts with more outreach, housing, health services, and social services. We must not enable people. Instead, providing these services is the best way to empower people. Drug addiction and mental illness are health issues not criminal issues.
Offering more of these critical services will also reduce negative impacts on homes and businesses.
The RCMP have less tools than they had before, mainly due to court decisions. It’s clear we can’t arrest our way out of the issue; however, we do need to hold offenders, especially repeat offenders, more accountable for criminal acts.
As Kamloops mayor, I will work collaboratively with local partners, to ensure that these complex issues of homelessness, mental health, addiction, and crime are best addressed.
A big part of this work is advocacy and partnerships outside city limits. As Past President of the Union of BC Municipalities and a current director with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, I am fortunate to have very strong relationships with our provincial and federal colleagues. Importantly, I have worked with my colleagues for 4 terms on city council to build very strong relationships with Indigenous peoples.
This current city council has made a good start. Council has funded more community service officers, day spaces, peer outreach programs, and we have supported the construction of more shelter beds.
I support:
A Mayor's Task Force on Community Safety for All
Locally funded 24/7 crisis outreach teams
Shelter facilities and day spaces that are good neighbours
A Sobering Centre
More mental health and substance use services. We have to reduce wait lists
More life skills programs
Reforms to the criminal justice system that hold repeat offenders more accountable
Bringing together key leaders across the community, in a coordinated “Team Kamloops” approach, to work together with our provincial government to secure more services
Working closely with the federal government to ensure that when people commit crimes, they are held accountable
A restorative justice based initial approach in the justice system
In summary, we need to embrace the hard work of collaboration to address community safety in a real and impactful way. We need to both show empathy and require accountability. We can fund some critical services ourselves and we need to be effective advocates to ensure action from other orders of government. This continues to be a big challenge but it is also a massive opportunity to make positive change.
We are Kamloops and I know we can do it.
Define Fiduciary Responsibility and how would you personally apply this to an elected role in Council or the TNRD.
Arjun Singh Answered
An elected official needs to assess carefully where money is being spent. And we need to develop and abide by strong financial policies and practices that prevent excess spending. At the TNRD, through a lot of hard work and frankly painful experience, we now have some of the best financial policies and practices anywhere in the country. When the TNRD board understood our policy gaps and lack of practices enabled excess spending, we took action immediately. The City of Kamloops has studied this work as well and we need to ensure our local practices and policies are very strong as well. I personally now apply an even closer look at financial information and also am proposing a review of the city's discretionary expenses for the next council.
Millions of jobs were lost during the pandemic. Describe how you will advocate for replacing those lost jobs with good union jobs.
Arjun Singh Answered
I think we actually have a labour shortage right now. Automation might address some of this but it seems pretty clear we need more workers not less. I believe we need good family supporting jobs. I would support workers who wish to unionize. And I would support union leaders trying to grow membership. We need to engage groups of people who have traditionally had challenges getting a job, such as people with diverse abilities and Indigenous peoples, and help them better access job opportunities. We will also need to encourage immigrants to come to Kamloops to settle.
What steps will you take to work towards action on Truth and Reconciliation?
Arjun Singh Answered
As we have in the current city council, it is critical we continue to take the lead from our Indigenous neighbours on the appropriate steps towards action on Truth and Reconciliation. It's a passion of mine personally as well. I would also add we should take further steps to engage our Indigenous citizens living with Kamloops city limits. In the recent past, Council has taken Indigenous awareness training, has fully supported TteS with their stewardship of the missing Children, and continue to work well with TteS on a number of different initiatives.
How will you promote ethical purchases, including local unionized goods and services, where available?
Arjun Singh Answered
I think it's important to promote purchases that come from suppliers operating with high standards.
What steps would you take to ensure your local government hiring practices reflect the community’s population diversity? Are you aware of any existing Employment Equity policies in your community or other communities?
Arjun Singh Answered
The City has recently hired a Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion coordinator who will help us improve even more the diversity of all city activities, programs, and hiring. The city is working to recruit more broadly. Obviously, the labour shortage has brought this on but also I think we have a renewed commitment to building a workforce that does reflect the wonderful diversity in Kamloops. City HR staff currently anonymize the early stages of the hiring process to mitigate unconscious bias. I am not aware of any specific employment equity policies. I do know the city does not have preferential hiring policy that seeks to correct historic diversity imbalances in the workforce. Instead, the city tries to ensure diversity by recruiting widely and offering easy access to job application opportunities.
Describe how you will address housing needs and housing that people can afford in your community?
Arjun Singh Answered
Housing supply and affordability is critically important. I am proposing council host and fund a citizens assembly on housing supply and affordability so we can have a robust community conversation in 2023 on the best measures to take to create more affordable housing supply. City hall has a lot of tools in the toolbox to assist achieve our housing goals: streamline and speed up city processes, better public engagement practices, allowing more density in zoning and planning, among others.
What can local governments do to attract and create green jobs and businesses in their community?
Arjun Singh Answered
In Kamloops, we could do a few things:
- implement our ambitious and achievable climate action plan, which will spur on more green jobs and business practices.
- work with the KDLC to help implement initiatives based on the BC Feds Green Jobs campaign.
- work with TNRD and Venture Kamloops to encourage the building of a large film studio in Kamloops
- work with Venture Kamloops to create a strategy to focus on green business practices and jobs.
What steps would you take to ensure a Pay Equity policy is in place and that the policy is applied to all staff employed by the local government?
Arjun Singh Answered
I would work with the city manager to continue to promote across the board pay equity in our workforce.
Do you support the Living Wage for Families Campaign? Please explain why or why not.
Arjun Singh Answered
I support a living wage for families. A living wage for a full time bread winner takes families out of poverty and helps children get a much better start in life.
Describe your position on Contracting Out and Public Private Partnerships and how they effect existing jobs.
Arjun Singh Answered
I would want to ensure that the collective agreement that city has with CUPE 900 is honoured and we work collaboratively with CUPE 900 on contracting out provisions. The city has from time to time "contracted in" because work was better done by city staff.
I think Public Private Partnerships are a tool in the toolbox. They should be considered thoughtfully with full consideration to high labour standards and high service standards.
Are you or have you ever been active in any community organizations, actions, or campaigns?
Describe your volunteer work, positions, and any tangible change to the community from your involvement. Are you still involved with this work?
Arjun Singh Answered
I've been active and involved in many different community organizations througout the years. I've worked on issues like youth homelessness, promotion of technology related businesses, and climate action. My main involvements right now include the Kamloops Rotary Club where I've been on the executive for many years. At our Rotary club, we focus mainly on food security and youth. We've also helped many people with funding needs that don't alway fit into the regular funding programs. I'm also a volunteer coach with the Kamloops RunClub. Watching people bring healthy change into their lives by increasing their physical and mental health with a group of new friends is a real joy!
What are the top three critical issues facing your community?
Arjun Singh Answered
There are lot of opportunities and challenges for Kamloops.
To directly answer your question, the top 3 critical issues facing Kamloops right now are:
1) Community Safety
2) Housing affordability
3) Retaining our amazing community friendliness and spirit as we grow.
If you are a Union member, does your union (provide union/local name) offer endorsement to members running for public office? If so, have you applied for/received endorsement from your union?
Arjun Singh Answered
Not applicable.
Have you ever been a candidate or volunteered in a previous civic, provincial, or federal election? If so, please give details.
Arjun Singh Answered
I have been actively involved in many previous elections. I've volunteered in provincial and federal elections for different parties at different times. I've helped run pro electoral reform campaigns both locally and federally. And I've been a candidate in 5 civic elections. I've been elected 4 times to city council.