Philip Mansfield, Green Candidate

Philip Mansfield, Green Party Candidate for Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay

My background

I’m a first-generation Canadian, married with three full-grown children.  We've lived on a cherry farm in Penticton for nearly a decade. I have a long history of support for the Green Party and environmental causes.

I have a multidisciplinary academic background including a Ph.D. from Yale University.  I have been a professor at University of Toronto and at Simon Fraser University.  I have an entrepreneurial background.  I founded a successful BC software company called SchemaSoft, which I sold to Apple.  I am an inventor and research scientist, with more than 75 patents and publications.  I helped create core artificial intelligence powering both Google and Apple products.

Throughout, I have endeavored to choose projects that help the environmental movement and advance the human condition. This includes innovative software to help urban planners model and curtail sources of carbon pollution, as well as world-leading medical AI to assist doctors and enable truly universal health care.

What I will do for you

In your riding of Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, climate disasters have had an outsized effect on local industries, such as agriculture, forestry and tourism.  Extreme temperatures, wildfires and floods have devastated crops, forests, homes and parks.  This is why I felt called to public service.  If elected, I will dedicate myself to mitigating the damage, protecting your livelihood, and building a more resilient future.

A sustainable, self-sufficient, green economy requires a long-term plan and a balanced budget. Tax reform is needed to counter growing income inequality.  Investments in young people and job transition supports, through education and housing, will allow them to contribute back to the tax stream sooner.  Investments in innovation grants and innovative technologies create opportunities to build new, environmentally responsible, local businesses.  Buying local allows us to simultaneously reduce our carbon footprint and combat trade tariffs.  Examples include small regenerative farms, farm-to-table initiatives, renewable energy, and value-added processing of our raw materials.

As your MP, I will work to protect our communities by ensuring our youth have a future to thrive, our workers are not left behind in the shift to greener technology, and through respect and diversity we close the widening gaps that divide us.