Councillor Craig Hodge provides updates on City of Coquitlam Municipality

Cathy Cena, the Host of Tri-Cities Magazine speaks with Craig Hodge, a Coquitlam City Councillor about all municipal updates in the City of Coquitlam.

Councillor Hodge says that the provincial government is investing 150 million dollars to update 911 system and mental health by allowing cellphones to be able to send text and pictures to a 911 dispatch.

Mr. Hodge talked about various committees he is chairing around Metro Vancouver, some of which are dear to him, such as those involving public safety, including the RCMP Local Contract Management Team and BC Round Table for the Police Act.

Hodge spoke about mental health and how it is affecting our loved ones. He says that no-one is immune from mental distress or illness. He talked about teams who respond to 911 calls related to mental health and is advocating for the Car 67 program that would involve professional mental health nurses going out on police calls. Hodge urged the Fraser Health Authority to train and employ more mental health nurses for response teams to help police during 911 calls.

At one time, Riverview hospital used to house around 4500 mental health patients, Hodge says, and that phasing out of this hospital created many issues that society is dealing with now, including homelessness and the opioid crisis. Patients were not given the opportunity to transition back into the community with community care.

TCCTV Host asked Hodge about City developments. Hodge replied that Coquitlam is in a transformative stage now. There are many changes including the nine new towers being built at the skytrain station at the border of Port Moody and Coquitlam- to be a community in itself. He also mentioned the North Road development, Coquitlam Centre, and the master plans of all the cities in the area.

Hodge says "I have served on Metro Vancouver [boards.] I'm on the Board of Directors of Metro Vancouver, regional district of 23 municipalities ... and so we oversee water waste, some Regional Parks but we also look after managing the region's trash and so I've been Vice Chair of that committee for the past eight years and recently now I've been appointed to Chair the national zero waste [program]."