Tyler Russell

I have done all sorts of activism since high school, in my University days and after I worked for Elisabeth Mann-Borgese's International Ocean Institute. After graduation, with them I initiated and facilitated the convening of an international experts panel at the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto to discuss the efficacy of extending the UN Law of the Sea's environmental obligations to riparian systems and watersheds. I worked in the arts for many years, but when I was doing my masters in Tokyo, I presented the Atmospheric Mining Research Centre (空中鉱山研究所) as a community engaged art project. Together with a group of community members across ages, we spent a week designing an atmospheric mining device, a massive, bike-pulled bamboo kite with air filters symbolic of carbon mining tools through the sky. In 2013, I founded the North Shore Electric Bikeway, an electric bikesharing initiative for North Vancouver and surrounding communities. https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/courier-archive/news/north-vancouver-entrepreneur-launches-countrys-first-electric-bike-share-program-2972055 Since the Riot at the Hyatt, I have attended all manner of rallies for environmental causes. My major personal commitments to footprint reduction, are that I choose to live in a multifamily dwelling and not own a car. Over the last year, I have consulted, including for Indigenous-led forestry entities, for the development of biomass-based carbon dioxide removal projects, and I am keen to see these techniques brought into Esquimalt's urban biomass and green materials (people used to call it green waste) management systems.

I think we need to focus on the protection angle. It seems, like we have more than enough market housing in the pipeline at the moment. Admittedly, I am not an expert in this area, and I am open to feedback, but what seems apparent to me is that what is needed is non-market and supportive housing to help ensure that the unhoused become housed. Working with a coalition of the proactive, I would like to do what I can to get stage one of the job, a roof for every head, done in our region. What matters in conjunction with that is to foster a community/culture of care. There are too many lonely, under-supported, hurting people, and too many of us on the edge. This is a big cultural issue. It ties in with how we move, assemble and design our dwellings, our dwelling clusters and our communities more broadly. As one example, why not build to a courtyard, with an immediate private outdoor space, extending to an intimate, but shared, or open gardening space. I deeply appreciated this form of dwelling cluster design in Osijek, Croatia. Why not revive contemplative traditions, crafting spaces where people know they can go for respite, refuge and reflection, more than an open church door, and not just for Hollyhockers, but for people who need care, a break a creative outlet, a place to stay a while. This may not be for our city limits, but certainly for our region. Carbon Steward Sanctuaries?

Yes. I think we integrate that into our ACC and DCC bylaw processes. You can read more about my proposal for a green to grey component to our ACC/DCC bylaws on my website. But to go a bit further here, building up biomass production systems in our community is an essential infrastructure that I want to leave to future generations. We want Esquimalt, on private and public lands alike to produce the ludicrous quantities of biomass that our community is capable of. I love the idea of reserving park-like, carbon reserve land for Garry Oak and Big Leaf Maple coppicing, perhaps not directly here in Esquimalt, but a massive bamboo grove, rotationally harvested and pyrolised would be a delightful carbon removal gift to pass on to next generations, and such fun to explore, play hide-and-seek in and harvest shoots from! In Esquimalt's in-community and regional collaborative carbon reserve lands it may or may not make abundant sense to lease out space to the providers of sauna and other services. The point is, yes, sure tree protection, let's have some, but our generation's carbon harvesting responsibility is far greater than that!! In 2024 alone we (humanity), left over 25 billion tonnes of CO2 in the atmosphere, that is nearly 7 billion tonnes of carbon, just a tiny bit less than the quantity of coal humanity mined from terrestrial sources in 2024. And more than enough to build a space elevator tether from here to the Oort Cloud!!

Island Rail Corridor is awesome, but it isn't now. And Bike and Roll Lanes are magnificent, but they aren't going to serve to the scale required. My first solution is to call on DND and everyone I can think of that supports and envelops them from the Ministry of Transportation to our MP Stephanie Mclean to bring back the Blue Boat or an equivalent base/dockyard staff-only shuttle to Colwood. The infrastructure is in place, all they need is a vessel and the staff to operated it and with their expansion that should totally be feasible. Additionally, it is incumbent upon these employers, not just for the morale of their workforces, but for the goodwill of their surrounding community to ensure that they are not persistently negatively impacting daily lives. I call on them to be the lead sponsors of my Esquimalt Free Ride pilot project. While we work towards the realisation of the Island Rail Corridor, for a +/-2 year pilot period, we would like to see free transit along Admirals (with service appropriately timed and more frequent service to Colwood), Esquimalt and Lampson. Essentially, make any bus servicing the base zone the 40, the 46, the 26 and the 15 free for a pilot period to see what impact it has on traffic, ridership and most importantly neighbourhood and employee spirit, morale and goodwill.

Lol. That is hilarious. I like the farmer's market, I like events like that. If it is in the context of a farmer's market day, then that is exactly the sort of temporary business license I think makes sense. However, based on your question, I assume it is for a longer stretch than a farmer's market night. I would call that a slippery slope.

Absolutely, however, I would be wary of burning too many of our generation's precious resources on fights of that sort. Frankly, I think it is best to frame it as a generational collaboration, not good guys vs. bad guys, greedy industry vs. activists. Perhaps, before we sue them, we could invite them to greenwash themselves by investing in making municipalities like Esquimalt carbon negative. We could calculate Esquimalt's historical emissions and then craft a business plan for how, through carbon reserve lands and pyrolysis, we could remove them by 2150 or 2160 and request investment from those historical emission enablers. Beyond planting trees we need to actively manage our biomass to remove carbon from the carbon cycle and lock it in the ground in one form or another. Since the industrial revolution we (humanity) have left over 300 billion tonnes of carbon in the atmosphere. With one hand we need to reduce our emissions to zero, with the other hand we need to tidy up the mess that our and our preceding 7 or 8 generations have left in our atmosphere. Every drop of energy we spend bickering we waste in the quest to transition away from fossil fuels and clean up the mess that we've left behind. Should we sue every Senior in Esquimalt who has or has had Enbridge stocks in their retirement portfolios, or as a component of a mutual fund they have owned? The situation is too urgent! Let's collaborate!