I was born in Vancouver on July 30, 1948. I am the second child of 4 boys in a family that was engaged in the commercial fishing industry. I finished grade 12 at North Vancouver Senior Secondary in 1967. In January 1968 I entered University at SFU and completed a degree in geography in 1972. I completed a PDP certificate in 1975 and taught school for a year.
My early adult work history from 1967 to 1979 involved a variety of jobs that included the fishing industry, and employment with Little Mountain Neighbourhood House, West Coast Environmental Law, Strathcona Park Lodge, working at a ski school in Italy and as an information officer with the Solar Energy Society of Canada.
I began law school at UBC September 1979, graduated in April 1983, and finished my articles in September 1984. Since completing my articles in 1984 I have been a self-employed lawyer practicing mainly family and criminal law even though my main interest in going to law school was to practice environmental law. However, with marriage to Barbara in 1978 and the arrival of two sons born in 1982 and 1987, the need to support a family superseded my interest in environmental law.
My wife has recently completed her PhD at SFU in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. My oldest son is living in Paris France and teaches at Sorbonne University while finishing a PhD. My youngest son competed a Criminology degree at SFU and although forever present in our memory, after a long and courageous battle with childhood cancer he passed away in 2011.
I have been interested in being a candidate for the Green Party for more than 20 years but I was always too busy to reasonably consider it. Now that I am semi-retired, I am able to put my name forward and seek an opportunity for nomination.
For over 40 years I have worked on keeping abreast of environmental issues. As a geography graduate from SFU keep in contact with the Faculty of the Environment and have taken the course Four Fridays in May 2021: Climate Change Solutions for Leaders that ended on May 27th. I actively study climate change initiatives such as Project Drawdown and look forward to representing your values and priorities in Ottawa.
