Jason Martin

Council · Burnaby

Burnaby 11 yrs

About

I am vice-president of a 280-unit strata, I have been self-employed in production for over two decades, and I have worked as a medical technician and in retail management. I will bring that practical, hands-on experience to Council

Policy commitments

Buildings

We all want healthy, affordable, and comfortable homes. These policies will help to lower energy bills, cut pollution, and improve indoor air quality.

✓ Support electrification of new buildings. Supportive

~ Incentivize electric heat pumps and air filtration systems. Neutral

~ Incentivize renewable energy, battery storage, and smart-grid technologies in new and existing buildings to improve energy security. Neutral

✓ Scale up energy retrofits for existing homes, businesses, and public buildings. Supportive

~ Implement a 'right to cool' bylaw to protect tenants during extreme heat events. Neutral

Climate Justice

Our community is already experiencing the harmful impacts of climate change caused by fossil fuel pollution, and taxpayers are on the hook to upgrade and repair critical infrastructure.

× Endorse the fossil fuel treaty and commit to phase out fossil fuels. Opposed

~ Enact a moratorium on AI data centres to protect our energy and water resources. Neutral

~ Pursue available legal options to recover a fair share of the climate costs facing our community from fossil fuel companies and other big polluters. Neutral

~ Collaborate with Indigenous peoples as partners in the stewardship of the land, air, and water, and work towards reconciliation. Neutral

Ecosystems

The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat all rely on healthy ecosystems. Nature can also help protect our community from extreme weather by controlling floods, protecting shorelines, and cooling neighbourhoods. Access to nature improves the health and well-being of residents, and supports biodiversity.

✓ Protect and restore ecosystems, which are essential to human survival, health, and economic well-being. Supportive

✓ Expand and protect tree canopy, parks, and green infrastructure to cool neighbourhoods, clean air, and manage stormwater. Supportive

✓ Prioritize native tree planting in all areas, especially those with low tree cover, higher population densities, and more vulnerable residents. Supportive

✓ Create connected urban greenways for people and wildlife. Supportive

Land Use

We envision vibrant, walkable communities that protect nature and improve food security.

✓ Build affordable homes near jobs, schools, shops, and transit. Supportive

✓ Upgrade critical infrastructure for heat, fire, flood, and storm resilience. Supportive

✓ Increase food security by supporting local agriculture and community gardens. Supportive

Transport

Connecting neighbourhoods through public transit and active transportation networks will cut pollution, improve public health, and make our communities more affordable (and fun!).

✓ Deliver reliable, frequent, affordable local transit. Supportive

✓ Advocate to improve regional public transit between communities. Supportive

✓ Build bike and roll networks that are safe for everyone. Supportive

✓ Expand EV charging infrastructure. Supportive

Watersheds

Climate change, increasing populations, and overconsumption threaten our water security. Healthy watersheds and forests are critical to support clean drinking water, stormwater management, climate resilience, and biodiversity for future generations.

✓ Implement water conservation plans and educate the public to conserve drinking water. Supportive

✓ Protect and restore watersheds as vital municipal infrastructure. Supportive

✓ Develop and implement a water security plan. Supportive

Zero Waste

Zero waste policies reduce pollution, keep waste out of landfills, build resilient local economies, and safeguard public health by shifting society away from a disposable culture toward a sustainable circular economy.

✓ Implement zero waste bylaws to divert organic waste and recyclables from disposal. Supportive

✓ Support the development of a circular economy to eliminate waste and improve resilience. Supportive

~ Implement bylaws to eliminate waste from new buildings, renovation, and demolition projects and to use existing buildings as efficiently as possible. Neutral

✓ Supportive

~ Neutral

× Opposed

– No response

Climate action

How have you contributed to climate action in your community through advocacy, past work, advisory committees, volunteer work, and/or reducing your personal carbon footprint?

Active in properly recycling ever since the blue bin was brought in to the lower mainland. I walk every where I can instead of driving, transit is a good option instead of the car when possible. Working out of home has been a huge change on vehicle use.

Questions for Burnaby

Climate change is already driving up the cost of living (i.e., insurance, food prices, strain on our healthcare system). How will you provide leadership in moving our municipality towards meaningful climate action that addresses this issue?

Cost of living and inflation is effected by these things, Central bank creation of money and easy Bank credit. These two fuel spending and create supply demand issues, initially is great to stimulate but if supply is low then prices go up. Taxes on fuel increase prices on all goods, Population growth via birth rates and immigration that is higher than homes being built causes rent and house prices to increase.

What specific policies do you promise to fight for to address transportation emissions, including making streets safer for walking and active modes of travel?

Encourage continued development of EV charging stations, whether in new strata builds or public stations. Support translink on the continual testing and implantation of electric buses.

How will you improve transit in Burnaby, using tools within your jurisdiction as a municipality?

I would work with staff in Roads and traffic operations (public engineering)and with TransLink in order to address the bottle necks that they are actively working on. One suggestion is to give priority of light changes to public transportation, buses. This is a highly specialized field and you want to be able to collaborate with those in that area of expertise as group and implement plans that could work reasonably. Having skytrain to go north and south along Willingdon would bridge that area for connectivity.

What ideas do you have to solve housing affordability and homelessness issues and address climate change at the same time?

House affordability is a supply demand issue which is a macro problem. The one thing Burnaby can do is speed up permits for new builds. See where taxes and fees can be reduced as that is a direct cost to the buyer. Homelessness is primarily an addiction issue, My plan is to propose a proper rehab treatment facility outside of the city (rural on acreage) which includes counselling, work farm, spiritual needs being met, treatment. It would be a joint effort with all municipalities partnering. Current model of safe injection sites, welfare, community feeding and clothing programs only enables and does not incentivize any change. There needs to be a radical new approach to this problem. Heat problem for those in the poverty line/elderly is have portable AC units installed, this could possibly be provided by the city if they meet the threshold for low income. This can be a cheap effective way in helping. Old top floor units can be like an oven.

How can we make our parks and green spaces work harder for us in terms of rainwater management, carbon capture and food production?

The reality is we are in a dense city that is urbanized, we need to maintain our forested areas. Work with developers to see if there are designs that can incorporate more green spaces without effecting the cost of building or taking up limited plot use. Look into land areas that could support more planting of trees or unused Turf to be converted into rain capture areas (wetland)

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