About the Author
“Nanaimo has both a wonderful site and a great situation on the island. We are served by all modes of transportation -land, sea and air. We are a centre of commerce and education and have an active, interested and talented population. We should not be just a good community in which to live; we should form a great community in which we all can live. I can see no reason why we should spend taxpayer dollars to bring people or businesses here. If we are visionary and united, they will come." - Ron Bolin
Who I am and Where I am coming from
My background includes degrees in government and in geography. I taught in the Geography Department at the University of Calgary for six years and served for two years on TUCFA, the University of Calgary Faculty Association. I have certificates in management from the Manitoba Institute of Management and the Harvard Business School.
I left Calgary for the Planning Department at the City of Edmonton where I established and headed the Information Section. I subsequently became a Senior Analyst with the City’s Management Studies, Systems and Budget Department and served as the initial Director of the city’s award winning Geographic Information System. This project involved extensive cooperation between the city’s Planning, Assessment, Engineering and Utility departments at a time when Edmonton operated its own Power and Telephone companies. I was later promoted to Manager of all Land Information in Edmonton’s Computer Department, managing some 60 permanent and contract staff.
Following six years with the city I moved to private industry, first as the Manager of a start-up computer mapping concern and later as a private consultant. As a consultant I have worked with the Province of Alberta, the City of Vancouver, the United Nations Development Program and the Government of Singapore, The Inter-American Development Bank and the Government of Jamaica, and for the United Nations Office for Project Services in Bosnia.
We moved to Nanaimo in 1989 as my wife, Inge, took a job in the Anthropology Department at Malaspina University College. In Nanaimo, when not working overseas, I have worked with various grassroots start-up organizations. I sat on the City’s Advisory Committee on the Environment (ACE) for three years and worked for a year with MISTIC, the Nanaimo Chapter of the Science Council of British Columbia. I have been a member of the Friends of Plan Nanaimo since its inception and previously served on its executive.
I have, at various times, been a member of the NDP, the Conservative and the Liberal parties, drawn by outstanding individuals. I have not been a member of any political party for some time and owe no political debts in any particular direction.
Over the years I have spoken out at Council Meetings and in Letters to the Editor on issues which I think are important for Nanaimo. I believe that my education, professional and global experience and local activism provide a unique background for commenting on Nanaimo developments.
Ron Can be reached at: rlbolin@telus.net
Inge and I on Gabriola Island
Daughter Andrea, her husband Greg, Liam and Leith
Son Greg with latest family member Chaska
Chaska and I on the rear deck
