West End resident Trevor Loke announced he is seeking nomination as a Vision Vancouver candidate for the park board last week.
The openly gay 22-year-old is a former director-at-large on the provincial council of the BC Green Party but is hoping to run under Vision rather than with the municipal Greens.
“Different parties with different philosophies: I think that’s an important part of the Vision team,” says Loke. “Some people are New Democrats, some people are Liberals, Greens, some people have never been involved in politics before. Yet, somehow they all work together to govern the city. I think that’s really inspiring.”
Loke hopes to get the public more involved in the process.
“Not a lot of people know what the park board does, what its role is, how they can participate in it,” he says. “I’m passionate about parks; I’m passionate about protecting public spaces.”
He describes himself as a philosopher, an athlete and a fundraiser, but he says his main goal is to be an agent of social change.
“I’m putting my energies into hockey, park board and my work,” says Loke. “Those are my three priorities in life, and if I did any more, I think I’d get in trouble with my partner.”
Loke is the development and sustainability officer for the Dr Peter AIDS Foundation and previously worked as a constituency assistant for Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington and as an aide to Surrey North MP Chuck Cadman. He also ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Green Party in the 2009 provincial election.
Why you can trust Xtra
