Meredith James

Council · Esquimalt

Esquimalt 7 yrs

About

For 15 years, I have worked as a lawyer advocating for the people, communities, and organizations I represent. My legal practice has included municipal, environmental, and Aboriginal law. I love gardens, festivals, and bike rides by the ocean.

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. Supportive

✓ Implement a 'right to cool' bylaw to protect tenants during extreme heat events. Supportive

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. Supportive

✓ 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. Supportive

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

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. 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?

Climate action has been a central part of my advocacy work since my 20s, when I was one of the founding members of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition which sent youth delegates to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences of the Parties and organized local events across Canada. Since moving to British Columbia in 2019, I served on Esquimalt's Environmental Advisory Committee (2020-2022) contributing to advice and recommendations to Council on environmental issues including Esquimalt's Climate Action Plan and I co-founded Lawyers for Climate Justice which campaigned for climate action within the legal profession. I am also a past board member of Capital Bike/GVCC (2019-2022) and have been an active member of the Capital Bike's Esquimalt Local Committee where I have organized bike pirate rides and other events to build a fun and welcoming cycling community.

Questions for Esquimalt

Esquimalt is rapidly losing its affordable housing with rising renovictions and demolitions. What strategies would you promote to ensure affordable housing is built and protected?

To get to what is affordable for more people I think we need to look at how the Township can support non-market housing. Of the 989 new housing units completed in Esquimalt since 2024, 114 have been non-market (i.e. social housing, not-for-profit developments and co-operatives). In the next Council term, there will be a review of the Official Community Plan, which is the time to look at how the Township can adjust its policies to increase the proportion of non-market housing. In the 1970s, non-market housing was 25% of housing construction in Canada, so there's a precedent that more non-market housing is possible.

Natural Asset Management (NAM) puts a monetary value on living assets. It is key to Tree Protection. Public engagement for Small Scale Multi Unit Housing (SSMUH) identified tree protection as the number one concern.

Yes. Esquimalt’s mature trees, parks and natural areas are important community assets, and I support using Natural Asset Management to better understand and account for the value of these resources in municipal decision-making. In particular, I think it could help us better understand the costs and benefits of protecting and expanding our urban tree canopy.

Tree protection has been an important concern in discussions about accommodating new development, and I believe we need to find ways to balance increasing density with space for mature trees. Esquimalt already has a Tree Protection Bylaw that requires replacement trees or cash-in-lieu contributions to the Township’s tree replacement and maintenance reserve. I would like to explore how we can build on this approach, including whether some of this funding could support residents who want to plant trees on their own properties. Programs such as Nanaimo’s tree voucher program offer one example of how cash-in-lieu funding can help expand the places where trees can grow.

With Department of National Defence and SeaSpan expansion, what are your solutions to deal with its impact on the existing challenging rush hour traffic?

I support full implementation of Esquimalt’s Active Transportation Network Plan, including safe and connected infrastructure for walking, cycling and rolling. As the Department of National Defence and Seaspan expand, we will need to give people more ways to get around that are safe and convenient.

Council should also be a strong advocate for good transit service in Esquimalt, working with BC Transit and regional partners to improve frequency, reliability and connections across the region. I support continuing to explore the potential of the Island Rail Corridor as part of the region’s transportation network, while also making sure that investments in rapid transit are focused on moving the greatest number of people efficiently.

At the same time, we need to work with our regional partners on managing congestion and making better use of the road network. This could include measures such as improved traffic-light coordination across the region. With major employers and infrastructure projects driving additional growth, we need to plan for transportation as a regional system.

A temporary permit has been issued for a private, for profit, sauna business to run in Esquimalt Gorge Park. What are your thoughts on private business in public parks?

Any use of the parks commercial purposes should be carefully considered to ensure that parks remain accessible to everyone and areas of the park designated as sensitive wildlife areas are protected. With clear eligibility criteria and requirements in the license this may be possible. It is also possible that private business in parks could provide benefits to Esquimalt, such as encouraging people to visit the park, generating revenue for the municipality, and supporting local business. I think that the approach of a temporary permit is appropriate - it gives us a chance to see if a new business idea is a good fit with the park. I would support developing a policy about what types of business activity align with Esquimalt's goals for our parks and which do not.

What is your position on whether Esquimalt should join an initiative to have local governments recover a fair share of climate costs from fossil fuel companies, eg: Sue Big Oil?

I would want to better understand the legal arguments, the likelihood of success, and the damages that Esquimalt might be eligible to receive. I think Council has a responsibility to use the Township's resources wisely. If there isn't a good chance that Esquimalt would receive compensation for damages associated with climate change, joining the law suit would be largely symbolic. It may be that the Township's resources would be better spent on other climate action initiatives that have a clear benefit to residents.

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