Raza Mirza. Photo Pro Vancouver
A fellow by the name of Raza Mirza has just entered the race to become a City of Vancouver Councillor on October 20th, 2018.
Since this is the stupidest politics column in the city - currently and historically - I challenge you to send me a dumber one - I would like to draw your attention to his incredible facial hair.
This is probably the best beard to ever grace Vancouver politics. This thing is an institution in and of itself. My window is only a couple of decades but I can't recall seeing a better looking face of hair zeroing in on a job at city hall.
Not only is it robust and meticulously groomed, but it is proudly worn. As a fellow Man With a Beard I will confess to you that it's ones like this that have had me consider (more than once) picking up a bottle of beard dye and attempting to make my patchy-dirty-blonde-coloured one stand out from my face more.
The owner of #vanpoli's best beard, Raza, is a 33-year-old father of two. He works in the tech industry and is perhaps most well known as a spokesperson for a group called Housing Action for Local Taxpayers (HALT) which has been really loud on social media and at events trying to get the government to work harder on housing affordability.
The bio his party sent out notes that he's been on an NDP standing committee, was a member of the NPA, volunteered for some Greens and - saving the most vague for last - once discussed policy with a Conservative Party of Canada electoral district association. He's all over the map when it comes to parties he's touched, so we'll see what ideas he brings forward when his campaign really gets going.
Speaking of parties, the one he's running under is a new one. Pro Vancouver boasts that they "owe no political favours", which is an easy claim to make when you're so young you don't even have to shave yet. They seem to be driving with an affordable housing agenda like most other parties.
As we've done in the past, V.I.A. plans to bring you a totally-not-stupid-or-biased guide outlining the various platforms of the parties and candidates prior to the election. Look forward to that in October. Until then I will continue to deliver my take on the election that takes place October 20th, 2018.
This is Vancouver’s Stupidest Politics Column, informing voters leading up to the 2018 Vancouver election. Check out the entire archive HERE.
