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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1406705
KYOKO FIERRO SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 BCBUSINESS 85 R ebecca Bligh has done triathlons, half marathons and gran fondos. One summer, she did the Grouse Grind 40 times to raise money for a children's charity. But about five years ago, she found her true athletic passion: paddleboarding. Asked what she loves about it, Bligh has an answer at the ready. "I knew you were going to ask me that, so I started thinking about it. And the first thing that came to mind was that I don't take my phone with me," she says. "There's a sense of freedom with paddleboard- ing. You're in control of wher- ever you go, and you can't have distractions or you'll fall off, so there's this presence of mind." The solace of being out on the water alone is important to Bligh, an independent Vancou- ver city councillor who lives with her wife and 16-year-old son in False Creek. "I'm sur- rounded by people I love day in and day out, and this is one thing I can do on my own—it gives me some time to reflect." Bligh also has a 21-year-old daughter, and though she en- joys the solo time on the board, she also often leads family trips. Unfortunately, the water closest to her home isn't exactly ripe for board sports. "The cost of falling in at False Creek When she's not at city hall, Vancouver councillor Rebecca Bligh hangs out on another kind of board by Nathan Caddell W E E K E N D WA R R IOR WARRIOR SPOTLIGHT Rebecca Bligh was elected as a Vancouver councillor with the Non-Partisan Association in 2018, leaving the party a year later to sit as an independent. Bligh, who was previously one of the first employees at Provi- dent Security and spent more than a decade with the Vancouver-based firm, believes that her city has a triple threat of crises to deal with at the moment. "The main priorities for me right now are the local economy, figuring out the housing puzzle and to keep advocat- ing for health interventions around the drug crisis," she says. "And knowing that just because people are vacci- nated doesn't mean people won't be dealing with the remnants of the pandemic for the next 18 to 24 months, minimum." –N.C. GONE PADDLING Bligh likes to launch at Jericho and Kits beaches, as well as from Bowen Island Stand-Up Politician O FF T H E C LO C K ( quality time )