Coun. Doug Holmes has filed his nomination papers for re-election to Summerland council.
He was elected in 2014 and during his first term on council, he served on the Parks and Recreation Committee, Cultural Development Committee, Cultural Plan Task Force and the Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on Affordable Housing.
He also worked closely with Summerland parents in their fight against proposed school closures.
Holmes, who has lived in Summerland for the past 14 years, is founding chair of the Summerland Refugee Sponsorship Group, co-chair of the South Okanagan-Similkameen Local Immigration Partnership Council and vice-president of South Okanagan Immigrant and Community Services.
He is also founder and organizer of Doors Open Summerland and a founding member and volunteer of the Ryga Festival.
He is also a tennis coach and has taught the sport to hundreds of Summerland youth. In 2011, he received Tennis Canada’s national award of excellence for developing the game at the community level.
Before moving to Summerland he lived in Paris and London, where he was a global expert on ‘e-government’ and a pioneering advocate of the use of internet technology in the public sector.
He worked in business development and marketing for Microsoft Corp. for 10 years and is author of the 2001 book, eGov: e-Business Strategies for Government, an international business best-seller that has been translated into seven languages.
He has also been a company director, a newspaper editor, a foreign correspondent, and a CBC radio reporter.
Holmes holds a degree in journalism and political science from Carleton University in Ottawa and a post-graduate diploma in creative writing from Humber College in Toronto. He has visited more than 90 countries and every Canadian province and territory.