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Roger Tierney

Director · Regional District of Central Kootenay

Area B 7 yrs

About

Moved to Canyon in 2019 from Kimberley. Worked for BC Parks for 35 years, last 15 as the Recreation Section Head for the Kootenays. Board member of the NC Improvement District. Member of the Canyon Community Association. Area B Director since 2022.

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 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

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.

✓ 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. 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

Land Use

We envision vibrant, walkable communities that protect nature and improve food security.

✓ 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!).

✓ Advocate to improve regional public transit between communities. Supportive

✓ Build bike and roll networks that are safe for everyone. 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.

✓ Protect and restore watersheds as vital municipal infrastructure. 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?

Purchased Land with donations from the BC Parks Foundation and Columbia Basin Trust to create Goat Canyon Regional Park ( awaiting ALC approval ), which may eventually support an active transportation route between Canyon and Creston as well as access to water for recreational use. I built my first active transportation pathway around Wasa Lake in 1997, which attracted many people from other communities and got the residents of Wasa out walking socializing and improving their health.

Questions for Regional District of Central Kootenay

How will you provide leadership to advance the priorities that have been identified in the RDCK Ideas for Climate Action plan, which the Board approved in April 2024?

Look for local opportunities to support and advocate for the most affordable initiatives. Promote those initiatives that can be implemented through Federal, CBT, or Provincial grant funding.

The rising cost of utilities and materials are big challenges affecting affordability for residents. How would you assist property owners in improving the performance of their buildings, saving money and improving comfort year round?

Encourage constituents to take advantage of the home renovation grant programs being offered by Govt., RD's, and utility companies, for heating and cooling heat pumps, re-insulating, and more efficient windows.

AI data centres use a lot of energy and water. What is your approach if an AI data centre is proposed for your Area?

Fight like hell, to not allow them in our valley. Climate change is reducing our available water supply, we do not have the capacity to support a data centre, we need all we have for agricultural production and residential use.

How will you prioritize land use decisions that protect and restore ecosystems, protect watersheds, ensure habitat connectivity, and support flood management?

We need to protect our important water sheds by retaining forest cover and forest canopies, the reduction of forest canopies is causing the snow pack to melt faster and earlier in the spring, which is having an impact on fish spawning as there is less water and the water temperature is higher. Ask the Local Community Forest Corporation what they are doing to protect and restore sensitive creekside habitat.

What climate-related infrastructure risks worry you most here (fire, heat, drought, air quality, floods, supply chains), and how will you collaborate with our regional municipalities to reduce risks and maximize impacts to keep our region safe?

Fire, heat, and droughts are becoming more common, the municipalities and rural areas need to work together to collaborate on water restrictions prior to the peak of the drought events and prioritize the supply for agricultural areas.

Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the RDCK. What specific policies do you most support and promise to work for to address transportation emissions, including improved public transit, and safe walking and biking?

Promote Active Transportation pathways, paved shoulders on all main roadways when repaving, more electric vehicle charging stations, and encourage transit vehicles to electrify.

If you wish to clarify or add information you may use this space.

Compiled & presented by

Authorized by West Kootenay Climate Hub, registered sponsor under LECFA, wkclimatehub@gmail.com

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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