Hi, I'm Paul Manly, and I'm running for Nanaimo City Council. I'm the Executive Director of the Nanaimo Unitarian Shelter, a former member of Parliament for Nanaimo-Ladysmith, filmmaker, local business owner and community advocate.

There is work that needs to be done for our community. I’m stepping up because I have skills, I have experience, and I want to make a difference.

 

The challenges we are facing demand action. We have an affordable housing and homelessness crisis. Community safety is a big concern. The pandemic and the flooding last year showed us how supply chain disruptions make us vulnerable to shortages of food and goods. The action we take on these issues has to come from a deep understanding of the problems. I want to use my knowledge of these issues to serve the community and put forward solutions that have been demonstrated to work. It is possible to improve affordability, safety and community resilience with the right policies in place.

 

We live in a very special part of the world. If we are going to maintain the quality of life that attracts people to the city then we need to manage growth. If we want workers to stay here, if we want our children to raise their families here then we need to ensure affordability. If we want to strengthen our local economy, we need to create the conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises to thrive here.

 

The current council set a positive and progressive course but we need to follow through with action. I have a strong track record of working collaboratively with community stakeholders. I worked across party lines to get things done in parliament and I’ll bring the same cooperative approach to my work on city council. It’s essential that as elected officials we listen to residents, be responsive, and work hard to meet the needs of the community, because there is a lot of need right now.