Candidate: Howard Wu
Party: B.C. Conservative
Age: 38
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Technology entrepreneur
Something people might not know about him: I built and sold a tech company in one year, one of the fastest exits in Canada. I watched Michael Jordan play both basketball and baseball in person.
B.C. Conservative candidate Howard Wu wants to bring efficiency, responsibility and quality back to government.
"I'm just like everyone else, tired of witnessing government inefficiency and waste while watching great opportunities for the beautiful province slip past us," says Wu, who's been a technology entrepreneur for almost 20 years.
In that time, he's worked in companies that have specialized in everything from hardware manufacturing to software development, and he's learned to create value, he says, and do more with less – an attitude he'd bring to government.
His most recent venture was a startup he founded in 2009 developing cloud computing software. In just one year, the company was sold to San Francisco's Joyent, a top cloud computing services firm.
He'd like to see technology help bring more openness and transparency in opening the lines of communication between government and citizens.
The right technology can also make the job of running the province more efficient.
Wu says he's running as the B.C. Conservative candidate in Surrey-Cloverdale because he believes "the people we elect into office come from the same bureaucracy we're trying to change."
That change, he says, simply won't happen without the right culture in government.
Political priorities
To Wu, the top priority in Surrey-Cloverdale is education and transit. The city has experienced tremendous growth in the past decade, particularly when it comes to families.
Wu says families from all over the Lower Mainland are drawn to Surrey because of its unique combination of being in relative proximity to downtown, while having affordable housing prices and a family-focused culture.
Infrastructure, however, has not grown accordingly, putting tremendous stress on schools and transit, he says.
"I don't think throwing more money makes problems go away. I believe a responsible government and a caring community is what solves these issues."
The top priority for the province is job creation, says Wu.
"We have so many talented immigrants as well as well educated Canadians all wanting to live in this beautiful province. However, the lack of jobs has been challenging. Not just job creation, but creating good jobs like in technology that is also environmental friendly, after all, writing and shipping software doesn't create too much carbon. I know with the right education and the creative spirit British Columbians have we can make our province work."
For more, visit www.bcconservative.ca/team/howard-wu-surrey-cloverdale, and find him on Twitter @HowardWu2013
See also: Riding Profile of Surrey-Cloverdale
Candidate profile of Stephanie Cadieux, B.C. Liberal Party
Candidate profile: Harry Kooner, NDP
Conservatives enter the race in Surrey-Cloverdale
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