Abbotsford mayor lays out a vision for the future during Inaugural Meeting

ABBOTSFORD – Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens and the eight newly elected councillors took their oath of office in front of a full house at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium Monday night (Nov. 7).

Mayor Siemens gave the Inaugural address laying out what he saw as the City of Abbotsford’s strengths and challenges. Diversity being a strength was a key point of emphasis for the mayor as well as the need for the diverse community to come together. Plans to attract more economic development and the issues surrounding homelessness were also addressed. Siemens called for more help from the provincial and federal governments to find solutions for the increasing number of “unhoused”.

In conversation with Fraser Valley Today, Mayor Siemens discussed how he wants to move forward on the challenging issue of homelessness in the city.

“Action-oriented community collaboration through the Access Abbotsford program – with this sub-committee we have all the right players at the table like BC Housing and Fraser Health. We need collaborators to help us make a dent in this issue. Homelessness is a huge issue and it’s multilayered, but we need to understand the complexity in order to enact meaningful change.”