Benjamin Perry

I was a volunteer organizer, and board member for Force of Nature Alliance from 2015 to 2026. Force of Nature Alliance’s mission is to make Metro Vancouver the first 0-carbon metropolis. We led the campaign in Metro Vancouver to adopt IPCC climate targets at the municipal level. We also helped to organize the Sue Big OIl campaign in cities such as Burnaby and Port Moody in 2024. In Coquitlam we held a climate oriented film and speaker series from 2024-2025.
I was lead organizer for all candidates debates on the environment for federal candidates in Tri-Cities in 2019, and 2025.
I prioritize community work over personal action, but I have taken steps to reduce my own footprint:
In 2025 I completed a retrofit of my home and it now has zero emissions heat and hot water, and I also added 5 kW of solar generating capacity on my roof - all financed by a 0% interest loan from the federal government.
Earlier this year, I purchased my first electric car, which is fantastic. I use it to commute from Coquitlam to Abbotsford 3 days per week.
In summer 2025, I commuted for 3 months from Coquitlam to Abbotsford by transit and bicycle.

Coquitlam has neighbourhoods where housing has been built first and infrastructure has lagged behind. Burke Mountain has waited years for local shopping and schools, and Burquitlam has incomplete pedestrian infrastructure, and a dwindling shopping centre. People need complete communities when they move in, not years later.

I would like Coquitlam to strategically distribute more medium-density mixed use development around the city. Concentrating people in walkable neighbourhood centres supports local businesses, and justifies more frequent transit routes and a network of greenways. Concentrating enough people into these areas can help preserve natural areas nearby.

Infrastructure should be planned and built at the same time as new homes. Official community plans should provide for parks, greenways, employment, and local services, while development should provide and/or help fund transportation networks, recreation facilities, and parks.

Major developments should introduce infrastructure "checkpoints" into a phased plan - so that subsequent phases of residential development cannot proceed until parks, commercial space, greenways and/or another key pieces of infrastructure have been delivered.

The city should also work with the school district and the province to make sure schools are built in a timely manner to support new neighbourhoods.

FInally, I would continually strive to protect employment land in Coquitlam. Industrial land should not be converted to residential, and development of new density should come with an increase in commercial and employment space to provide local jobs and services.

I have experienced, firsthand, through the summer of campaigning, the benefit of mature trees for shade and cooling as I walk the streets of Coquitlam knocking on doors. Some neighbourhoods have a mature tree at nearly every house.

Mature trees need protection and we can accomplish this with three specific policies: First, there should be a minimum canopy target for each neighbourhood which should be actualized in strong development policy. Second we should require a permit before healthy trees above 20-30 cm are removed. Finally, development applications should prioritize protection of trees above a certain diameter such as 20 cm. If retention is not possible, we should require a contribution towards canopy restoration in the surrounding neighbourhood.

In early 2026, Coquitlam city council voted 5-4 not to accelerate Zero Carbon Step Code adoption. My starting position is to adopt level 4 immediately for all new buildings. What is built today will be standing in 2050, a year in which our city has committed to net-zero community emissions. High efficiency electric heat pumps are provide heating and cooling and are the most efficient form of climate control. This is my first priority when it comes to council in 2027 - to adopt Zero Carbon Step Code at level 4 immediately.