About Duane Nickull

My name is Duane Nickull and I am a long time Vancouver resident, happily married with three children.  I have lived in the BC Provincial electoral riding of Vancouver - Point Grey for over a decade.  I was born into politics.  Both my parents and all my grandparents were very involved in many political movements, notably the NDP and Greenpeace.  My own great Uncle Olaf Turnbull was a member of the Canadian Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party, serving as an MLA in Saskatchewan during the 1960's and worked side by side with Tommy Douglas, voted the most notable Canadian on a special CBC TV program in 2004.   Tommy and Irma Douglas were good family friends and my late grandparents on both sides fought for the rights of the people in this province.  I am a member of the BC Conservative Party for their views on a strong economy, minimal government intervention on civil liberties, transparency and accountability in government and a strong protection of our environment.   I am also very much in love with BC, the best place on the face of the planet.

In the past I have represented Canada at the United Nations in the CEFACT Plenary Bureau where I was elected a Vice-Chair.  During my tenure at the United Nations I worked in Geneva and helped architect a technology stack unencumbered by intellectual property claims to serve as the foundation for developing and transitioning countries in a global economy.   I have also been an active member of OASIS, the W3C, the IEEE and other standards development organizations where I helped develop many of the modern computer sciences, standards and protocols we use today including Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web Services and have written books for companies such as O'Reilly and WROX.  I also teach computer science courses myself.  I have lectured at Stanford University (California), the Technical University of Vienna (Austria), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) and closer to home BCIT and even taught free, full day courses at SFU.  I have several of my works published and referenced from MIT, Stanford, Berkeley and various other prestigious institutions.   I am currently a member of the Standards Council of Canada, a federal Crown corporation with a mandate to promote efficient and effective standardization in Canada.  My belief is that science and technology offer some of the best hope for the challenges we face now and in the future.

Two topics I specifically care about are sustainability and education.  I have been working as a Technical Monitor with the United States Department of Energy where I help monitor the progress of the National Geothermal Data System, a renewable energy program that could one day provide power for 10% of the US domestic needs.   I am also a member of the BC Civil Liberties Union and the BC Sustainable Energy Association.  I have also joined the Bayview Parent Advisory Council to fight to get our schools seismically upgraded.  I believe education is a fundamental right and a wise investment.  Many politicians cut back on education believing they are saving money.  The fact is that funding education properly creates a solid return on investment as students graduate and become tax paying citizens in highly skilled jobs.

I have fought for other causes including participating in the 2009 Rotary Club Bike-a-thon, cycling more that 135 km to support cochlear implant research at UBC and to establish the Rotary Hearing Centre at UBC and the Rotary Hearing Clinic at St. Paul's Hospital.  I have helped raise money for the Pacific Midwifery Practice association and play in an indie rock band that helped raise over $35,000 to build a school in Tanzania.   We have also rocked against cancer, raised money for the global red cross after the Japanese earthquake and been active in every possible social cause we can including fighting the US Patriot Act (which I believe true Republicans must oppose) and also stopping SOPA and PIPA.  A cornerstone of the BC Conservative Party mandate is a fundamental believe in the rights and responsibilities of all British Columbians and that governments at all levels are in place to serve and respect all individuals and their families, including freedom from unnecessary laws and regulations.

I am always interested in hearing what people think.  Please contact me directly at duane at nickull dot net.

Approved by Tim Plommer, Financial Agent, 604 806 5556.