Third-generation Abbotsford farmer and small business owner says the city needs a mayor who
shows up — not more of the same.

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — Paul Mahil, an Abbotsford farmer, small business owner and community volunteer, has officially filed his nomination papers to run for Mayor of Abbotsford, confirming his place on the ballot for the October 17, 2026 municipal election. Mahil filed ahead of last Friday’s nomination deadline, becoming one of four candidates now seeking the city’s top job.

Mahil — known to most simply as Paul — has called Abbotsford home since 2001, though his family’s roots in the city run far deeper. His grandfather bought the family’s first farm in Abbotsford in 1974, and the Mahil family has worked the land for three generations since. Paul carries that legacy as a farmer today. He also runs a small snow-and-ice removal business — which means that on the mornings most of Abbotsford is still asleep, Paul is already out on the roads, making sure the city keeps moving.

A Regular Guy, Not a Career Politician

Paul is blunt about why he’s running. He has never held political office, doesn’t belong to any political machine, and says he isn’t interested in learning how to play the political game.

“I’m not a career politician. I’m just a regular guy who’s tired of watching corruption and closed-door deals hold this city back — and I’m ready to fight for a better future for Abbotsford,” said Mahil.

He argues that outsider status is exactly the point. Paul has spent his life working with his hands, not working a room — and he says that’s the kind of mayor Abbotsford needs right now: someone who answers to the people who actually live here, not to whoever has the loudest lobbyist or the mayor’s cell phone number.

Showing Up When It Mattered

Paul’s decision to run follows years of hands-on community involvement — the kind of work that happens away from cameras and press releases. During the Sumas Prairie floods, he helped coordinate food, sandbags and even helicopter flights to get supplies to families who had lost everything. He has toured and completed volunteer training with Joshua House, and has worked alongside Kirpa Collective and the Teri Oat Free Services Society delivering food and supplies to Abbotsford residents in need.

“Doing good for others should be part of your everyday life,” Paul says of the outlook that shaped his decision to run — a philosophy he believes has gone missing from a city hall more comfortable talking to consultants than to the people who elected it.

Why Paul Is Running

Paul says no single event pushed him to run — it was watching Abbotsford grow year after year while the people doing the actual growing kept getting squeezed. Rising property taxes. A homelessness crisis with no real plan behind it. Trucks parked wherever they can find room because there isn’t enough space for them. Farmland at risk. And, in Paul’s telling, a city hall that spends more energy protecting itself than fixing any of it.

So he’s doing what he says regular people do when they’re tired of waiting for someone else to fix it: he’s stepping up himself.

The Platform: For the People of Abbotsford

Every part of Paul’s platform starts from the same idea, he says: city hall decisions should work for the people who actually live in Abbotsford — not for whoever has the best-connected lawyer or the deepest pockets. His platform includes:

• Opening Abbotsford up for business — building a logistics and manufacturing hub around Abbotsford International Airport, and a new entertainment district and convention centre nearby, so growth creates local jobs instead of just local traffic
• Holding the line on property tax increases, and making sure every homeowner knows their right to appeal an unfair assessment
• Directing city support toward homelessness and addiction-recovery organizations with a proven track record of results — not just the ones with the best-connected boards
• Pursuing real, cross-border flood protection in partnership with Washington State — without re-flooding the Sumas Prairie
• Protecting Abbotsford’s working farmland under the Agricultural Land Reserve, because Paul says the farmers who built this city shouldn’t be the ones who pay for its growth
• Bringing transparency to city hall through open, competitive bidding on city contracts, publicly published spending, and an independent integrity commissioner

Ending Backroom Politics at City Hall

Of everything on his platform, Paul says the transparency plank is personal. He’s watched, like many Abbotsford residents have, as major decisions get made behind closed doors, contracts go out without real competition, and the same names seem to keep winning no matter who sits on council.

“I wasn’t born into politics, and I don’t owe anyone in this city a favour. That’s exactly why I can do this,” Mahil said.

As mayor, Paul says he’ll require open, competitive bidding on major city contracts, push to publish city spending online so residents can see exactly where their tax dollars go, and fight for an independent integrity commissioner whose only job is making sure city hall follows its own rules. Paul is asking Abbotsford residents who feel the same way to join him — not as spectators, but as part of the campaign. He says grassroots volunteers knocking doors and putting up signs, not big donors, are what will decide this race.

“Call it a revolution by the people, and for the people,” Mahil said. “Abbotsford deserves a choice that isn’t more of the same.”

About Paul Mahil

Paul Mahil is a third-generation Abbotsford farmer, small business owner and community volunteer running for Mayor of Abbotsford in the 2026 municipal election. A first-time candidate, Paul is running as an independent voice for residents who feel city hall has stopped listening — focused on growing Abbotsford’s economy, protecting its farmland, and bringing transparency back to local government.