ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking with Les Young, who’s running for Banff council in the upcoming municipal election. Tell us a little bit about your background and your related experience for the job.

LES YOUNG: I’ve had experience with the Valleyview Condominium Association, being a board director as well as president of the board. I was with the Kiwanis Club of Banff and went through different offices like secretary, vice-president, and president. My family was very involved with Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. I had one grandfather who survived the First World War; it gives me an appreciation for veterans and seniors. I’ve just become very interested in politics and the situation in Banff as we go through the COVID and try and get out of this.

RM: Why run for council in this particular election?

LY: I’ve always tried to keep up on federal and provincial issues. When the Bear Street reconstruction came along, working at Standish Home Hardware right on Bear Street, a lot of things came to my attention from my own point of view, and from locals who brought items up that they weren’t happy about.

RM: Let’s talk a little bit about your top or one of your top issues that you’re really passionate about and maybe some ideas you have around it.

LY: Unfortunately, Bear Street is done with, there’s not much we can do about that, but one of my big concerns is going to be the Banff Train Station, transportation hub. There’s a lot of controversy on what may or may not be allowed on Parks Canada’s side. If some things don’t go through with that, where do we go from there? Some other things are a focus more on what’s available for seniors as we go forward with different improvements, like the Banff Recreation Grounds and the Fenlands Recreation Centre.

RM: Looking back on the last four years, what’s something you feel this past council did a good job tackling? Conversely, what’s something you feel that could have done a better job on?

LY: I think Town Council and Administration did a pretty good job getting us through the COVID vaccination procedures. The emergency response teams from the Town keeping everybody isolated and vaccinated was a plus. We did fairly well overall considering our situation as a visitor centre.

I think there is a lot of disappointment with how things went through with Bear Street. A lot of comments that were made to me were, why should we go to these public information sessions when our suggestions don’t really seem to be making any difference into what’s being planned? There were, in a lot of cases, developments that weren’t really advertised or given to the public to comment on.

RM: Now that it’s all done, what do you think about the finished product there?

LY: I think it works well as a plaza in front of an arena, for instance, but with the need to provide access for the three underground parking lots that are part of the apartment buildings on their street, I don’t think the traffic considerations really work.

RM: If elected, how would you stay engaged with the people of the community?

LY: I have been known to write letters to the editor and I’ve had comments on those. I have pointed out things to Administration and Council with letters to council that are part of the public record. Also, with my job at Standish Home Hardware, I’m visible to a lot of people because we get a lot of visitors and a lot of locals coming in the shop.

RM: What’s another part of your platform that you’d like to chat about that we haven’t really touched on yet?

LY: I know a lot of people will say that I haven’t had a lot of experience with actual town administration, but I’ve lived in Banff since 1972 and I’ve owned my own condominium unit since 1980 up at Valleyview Condominiums, so I’ve been around for a lot. I went through the Banff Avenue refresh, for instance, I think it’s just having lived here and worked here for so many years. It gives me a bit of a historical background.

RM: How can people find out more information about you?

LY: By email at the moment is the best way.

RM: Why should people vote for you?

LY: It’s time for some fresh blood. I’ve been here in town for a long time, and might bring a bit of that outside view since I have not been part of administration or anything like that.

Filed under: Banff, Municipal Election