Konstantine Roccas

Council · Burnaby

Burnaby 21 yrs

About

Hi I'm Konstantine. Running for council for the opportunity to give the younger generation a voice and provide logical conclusions to the problems plaguing us in Burnaby. I want to hear from you! Your thoughts and concerns.

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. Supportive

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

~ Scale up energy retrofits for existing homes, businesses, and public buildings. Neutral

~ 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. Neutral

✓ Enact a moratorium on AI data centres to protect our energy and water resources. Supportive

~ 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. Opposed

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. Neutral

✓ 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. Neutral

~ Advocate to improve regional public transit between communities. Neutral

~ Build bike and roll networks that are safe for everyone. Neutral

~ Expand EV charging infrastructure. Neutral

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. Neutral

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

✓ 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?

I just try not to be wasteful. There are so many initiatives out there but at the end of the day if you're conscientious about what you do with your packaging, your food waste, your water usage etc. you can make a small difference that goes a long way. I do the small things. If there's waste on the ground I'll pick it up in my community, I'll bus to live events instead of driving down etc.

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?

I commit to working on improving waste management, water management and incentivize local businesses to operate and employ people here in Burnaby. I also want to increase the amount of trees in our public spaces. I think the most egregious incident was the construction of the new Cameron Rec Center. When building it they tore down the park for absolutely no reason instead of building around it. I also will work to put a halt to meaningless development for developments sake. We don't need more unaffordable concrete cubes that pad the wallets of developers. Especially when a glut of them are sitting empty. These developments completely raze the area, creating more traffic, decimating more ecosystems and just gumming up traffic.

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

I'm going to support EV charging systems but I actually think part of the problem is that our traffic congestion is so bad it keeps our roads full and our cars spewing out emissions for longer than necessary. I will work with the province and the city to improve our arterials and allow traffic to pass through more efficiently. I also think improving the ability for small businesses to operate in Burnaby would incentivize people shopping locally which would lessen transportation burdens. Right now our systems are at capacity, TransLink, roads, etc. To improve these long term means decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions.

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

I want to work with Translink to improve service but I refuse to turn Burnaby into a traffic corridor to funnel people into Vancouver. I want to work to boost existing service but not at the cost of turning Burnaby into a corridor. I think where infrastructure is most needed is bridging North and South Burnaby. The Canada way corridor is ridiculous.

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

Developers are already taking massive shortcuts and building useless housing that nobody can afford. I want to ease the development speed, think about our neighbourhoods and make sure that the glut of units available go to young Canadians who want to actively improve their communities. I think it is comical that developers are building to make a profit and cry poverty when their bets go sideways expecting a bailout. I want to levy fees on developers for unsold units and try to drive the price down and incentivize young Canadians to inhabit these homes to get their start in life. Alternatively, by putting a cap on useless development, we also will stop creating concrete jungles that trap heat.

As for heat related issues, I would create an emergency plan that would activate all city employees during a heat dome to provide transport to designated cooling centers for folk who cannot get there themselves. I think it is shameful that we were unprepared for that and so many lost their lives.

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

The biggest thing we can do is not raze land without consideration for the ecological impact of the move. I'm not in favor of endless fees and climate 'slacktivism' but I am in favor of smart development that doesn't require destroying our parks and ecosystems in order to create 'luxury' condos.

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Vote4Tomorrow is an independent voter guide to evaluate where local candidates stand on climate and environmental policies that will affect our future.

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