Solomon Etuk
Council · Port Coquitlam
Port Coquitlam 24 yrs
About
PoCo is an amazing place to grow up, and I want the next generation to be able to stay! As a service worker and transit advocate, I'll fight for more homes near family, better buses and bike routes, thriving local shops and affordable recreation!
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
✓
Scale up energy retrofits for existing homes, businesses, and public buildings.
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.
✓
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.
✓
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
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
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
✓ 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 contribute mainly through public transportation advocacy with Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders. Our work focuses on expanding transit frequency, reliability and coverage across the region. Port Coquitlam is one of only five municipalities in Metro Vancouver where household transportation costs outweigh every other basic living expense. Frequent, reliable transit is both a climate necessity - to take cars off our roads - and direct cost-of-living relief for all of our residents.
Personally, I commute by e-scooter and SkyTrain, riding to a nearby station and taking transit to work. For errands and longer trips, I use car-sharing, as my partner lives near the Evo Home Zone. I only use a personal vehicle to move heavy equipment or carpool friends who cannot drive to a destination.
Personally, I commute by e-scooter and SkyTrain, riding to a nearby station and taking transit to work. For errands and longer trips, I use car-sharing, as my partner lives near the Evo Home Zone. I only use a personal vehicle to move heavy equipment or carpool friends who cannot drive to a destination.
Questions for Port Coquitlam
Port Coquitlam is vulnerable to many climate-related risks (e.g., intense rainfall, flooding, wildfire smoke, and extreme heat events). How will you address these risks to increase our community’s resilience?
I'll treat resilience through the lens of infrastructure and rely on expertise. City councillors are not experts in every area; council should listen directly to our fire department, emergency managers and local environmental groups who know these areas well.
For flooding, PoCo sits between three rivers. Wider riparian setbacks and healthy waterways drain and absorb heavy rain for a fraction of what pumps or larger pipes cost. For heat, trees are public infrastructure that can fight this challenge! I'll push to fund the Urban Forest Roadmap's planting rate, starting with the least-treed blocks in our city and favouring the least flammable native broadleaf species near homes. I'll also push for a registry of vulnerable residents who get checked on during heat and smoke events.
For flooding, PoCo sits between three rivers. Wider riparian setbacks and healthy waterways drain and absorb heavy rain for a fraction of what pumps or larger pipes cost. For heat, trees are public infrastructure that can fight this challenge! I'll push to fund the Urban Forest Roadmap's planting rate, starting with the least-treed blocks in our city and favouring the least flammable native broadleaf species near homes. I'll also push for a registry of vulnerable residents who get checked on during heat and smoke events.
If elected, will you do everything you can to ensure that Port Coquitlam implements the highest level of the Zero Carbon Step Code by January 2028, so that all new buildings are required to be built to be virtually zero carbon going forward?
Yes - because as of this survey, the province requires it by 2030. Port Moody, Burnaby and Maple Ridge have already adopted it. Being last means that buyers and renters will pay for the required retrofits later. I'll work with council on cost and supply-chain concerns, take best practices (and know what to avoid) from neighbouring municipalities, and bring local builders and community advocates into the discussion. Clear, predictable implementation that builders can plan around. Dedicated environmental staff would help builders through the transition. Making sure new buildings run on clean, efficient energy alongside clear guidelines from day one is directly within council's control.
Compiled & presented by
Vote4Tomorrow is an independent voter guide to evaluate where local candidates stand on climate and environmental policies that will affect our future.
© 2026 Vote4Tomorrow