About Nic

It is the loss of land, and of local farming, that has lead to Nic’s participation in politics. Nic recognizes the connections of people, land and water, and the need to balance this with minimizing our footprints on the planet.

When Nic Slater is in the mountains, he skis. When he is on the Fraser River, he kayaks. As a former competitive skier and coach, and still an avid mountain biker and cross-country skier, he enjoys the outdoors, and is always aware of the complexity of human response to the natural world.

In his 25 years of being part of the community of Whistler, he founded two businesses: a successful back-country lodge, and a building and service company.

Nic believes in “paying back” to the place he lives, and was Director of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce as well as serving on Whistler’s Advisory Planning Committee. He was heavily involved in the Provincial land use strategies of the 1990s. He is also a 22 year veteran of Whistler’s Search and Rescue group.

In 2005, he left Whistler for the Lower Mainland and Ladner, where he now lives with his spouse in a float home community on the Fraser River. He is a life-long learner and as so many adults are now doing of necessity or choice, he returned to school in 2006 to explore new directions. But his original studies in agriculture (MacDonald College of McGill University), and his years of farm work as a young person, have proven to be the foundations of his involvement in concerns with the loss of farmland in the Lower Mainland and elsewhere.

It is this loss of land, and of local farming, that has lead to Nic’s participation in politics. Nic recognizes the connections of people, land and water, and the need to balance this with minimizing our footprints on the planet. Nic believes in footprints that are simultaneously caring and adventurous, that explore new ways to create livelihood and well-being. Leadership in this is a task he is well-prepared for.