Affordable Housing:
Support the development of a City housing corporation, empowered to assemble land, seek non-profit funding partners and hire skilled tradespeople to build genuinely affordable, purpose-built rental and co-operative housing across Burnaby
Push the provincial government to allow municipalities to introduce mandatory inclusionary housing bylaws that would ensure non-market rental housing inclusion in future multiple-family housing developments
Push the provincial government to re-introduce vacancy controls to (which BC had from 1974 to 1984) to dampen massive rent rate increases between current and future tenants
Increase housing share of Community Benefit Bonus (CBB) Reserve from 20% to 40% until at least 2030, longer if necessary, to prioritize expanding the supply of genuinely affordable housing
Use increased CBB Housing Reserves in part to acquire/assemble land for rental and co-op housing development, and to assist in funding where provincial and federal funding lacks
Change zoning approval process to prioritize – that is, speed up - approvals for sub-market rental, non-market and co-op housing
Allow multiple-family housing developments of 4 to 6 stories in all Burnaby neighbourhoods, increasing to 8 to12 stories closer to transit routes
Zone blocks within neighbourhoods vulnerable to demoviction by tenure (rental vs. owned), instead of use (Local Government Act, sec 481.1)
Eliminate mandatory minimum parking space requirements, and introduce bicycle parking minimums in all new multiple family housing developments, but especially within 1km of Skytrain stations and major transit routes (ex. R5 Rapid Bus)
Allow homeowners more flexibility in renovating their home to include additional, attached or detached units (ex. laneway homes), on the condition that at least half of additional units are rental-only
Environment and Decarbonisation:
Continue Burnaby’s opposition to the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) project, and oppose any attempt by Trans Mountain to offload spill/fire response onto Burnaby’s first responders without providing adequate full-time funding to the City
Update Burnaby’s Official Community Plan to designate all tank farms and refineries (Trans Mountain, Shell, Imperial Oil, Parkland, Suncor) as ‘transition’ zones, aimed at decommissioning these sites into uses more compatible with urban areas
Require all new City buildings to make use of heat pumps and renewable energy sources (solar, wind, etc.), and to start to retrofit existing City buildings where practical, to reduce the City’s carbon footprint
Continue to electrify City fleet vehicles as practical, and provide property tax incentives for commercial property owners to install EV charging stations and secure bicycle parking/storage spaces in place of vehicle parking
Work with Translink to identify and expand bus shelters on bus routes and at bus stops along routes that experience high passenger loads (i.e. those serving BCIT and SFU)
Increase the use of swales for storm water runoff (ex. UniverCity) in Local Area Service Improvements where practical
Public Safety and Accessibility:
In response to the province’s Accessible BC Act (Bill 6), conduct an audit of City buildings, parks and sidewalks/pathways to determine if they meet accessibility standards, and if not, work out a timeline and funding plan to achieve those standards
As a part of the above audit, prioritize installing streetlights and sidewalk curb cuts at intersections where they are currently missing, instead of waiting for Local Area Service Plan improvements to occur
To achieve Vision Zero goals of zero road fatalities or injuries, expand efforts to daylight city intersections – expanding sidewalks and installing barriers – to prevent parking within 6m of intersections, allowing pedestrians, cyclists and motorists more opportunity to see one another
To address overly long response times, work to have Fire Hall #9 (Big Bend) operational by 2026.
Support NFPA 1710 standard of four (4) firefighters on all Burnaby Fire Department first response crews by 2025
Work to reinstate BC Ambulance Station 258 in North Burnaby with full-time staffing, with a view to relocating to the Capitol Hill area to provide more equitable response times across North Burnaby
Investigate, with senior governments, developing a program to respond to mental health crisis situations with a mental health intervention team with appropriately trained personnel, rather than police
Reconciliation:
Institute an informal discourse with members of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking communities, based on Victoria’s City Family concept but capable of taking its own shape, to build over time meaningful relationships with our Indigenous neighbours
Develop a means to include Indigenous community members in key areas of City decision-making, including the update of Burnaby’s Official Community Plan
Prioritize sub- and non-market rental housing availability for Indigenous residents of Burnaby to reduce risk of homelessness
Identify opportunities for the City work with Indigenous-owned small businesses and creators as a means of supporting local employment
Allow the inclusion of Indigenous placenames on signage for City and Regional parks and natural features (i.e. Deer Lake)
Transit:
Press Translink to restore Burnaby bus services to pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible
Push Translink to reduce and eventually eliminate the activation fee for Compass cards, as it unfairly impacts those who can least afford it
Support the development of a Gondola service to SFU’s Burnaby Mountain campus that minimizes impact to those living close to the chosen route
Democracy and Public Engagement:
Bring a resolution to the next Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference requesting provincial permission for Burnaby citizens to choose how they elect their Mayor, Councillors and School Trustees in future local elections
Create a public visioning strategy, similar to the Mayor’s Taskforce on Community Housing that, alongside renewal of the Official Community Plan, encourages Burnaby residents to consider future uses for the current tank farm and refinery sites
Support change in BC voting laws to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal and provincial elections
Biographie
He/Him/His
I volunteered as a canvasser with Dogwood BC, in opposition to the Trans Mountain Expansion project, and helped secure Burnaby Council’s opposition to the now- abandoned Fraser Surrey Docks coal port proposal. I participated in the 2019 You Voice, Your Home conference, providing feedback for the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing.
Raison de la candidature
Develop a plan to get Trans Mtn out of Burnaby by 2040.
Affordable Housing: we need to revise Burnaby's Official Community Plan (OCP) to allow for a wider array of housing options, especially low- to mid-rise rental apartments, across the city. We can do this at lower costs by starting a municipal housing corporation or department, that can assemble land, seek out funding partners and hire teams of tradespeople to build housing on a non-profit, cost-recovery basis.
Safer Intersections: we can reduce deaths and injuries at Burnaby intersections by 'daylighting' them: adding sidewalk bulges and installing features like barriers or bike racks that prevent vehicle parking within 20ft of intersections. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike will benefit from being able to more clearly see one another.
Accessible Spaces: some Burnaby public spaces (including City Hall!) are poorly designed in terms of accessibility for anyone with physical disabilities. Future renovations need to correct this. Also, there are many neighbourhoods that still do not have basic safety features like street lights and sidewalk curb cuts, because property owners are able to vote against them. We need to reconsider these necessary safety features to be in the public interest, and find a way to fund them accordingly.
Trans Mountain: the continued presence of Trans Mountain's Burnaby tank farm is a ticking environmental and public safety time bomb, but it is not alone. Shell and Imperial Oil also have tank farms here, in addition to the Parkland refinery. The clear and present danger they present to Burnaby residents can no longer be justified by the limited taxes they pay. They need to go. Burnaby's Official Community Plan will be updated soon, and I encourage all Burnaby residents to come forward with their visions for the transformation of these sites, to pressure their owners to look for the exit and redevelop.