Sean Easton
Mayor · Squamish
- Neighbourhood:
- Garibaldi Estates
- Years in the community:
- 11
About
Sean has over decade of community leadership experience, as Co-Executive Director of Zero Ceiling and co-founder of DWIFT Housing Society. He's an action-oriented advocate who delivers impact for people whose voices aren't heard.
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
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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
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?
Much of my advocacy work has been focused on lifting up oppressed youth, however I have been a
supporter of environmental initiatives and always understood that social and climate justice issues are deeply interconnected. I've participated in My Sea to Sky letter writing campaigns and petitions and have attended town halls on Woodfibre, most recently calling publicly on Council to reject the proposed deal as as Mayoral candidate. Through my work at DWIFT Housing Society, we're exploring how to build affordable homes that are highly energy-efficient, so both residents and the environment benefit from our projects.
Personally, I understand that humans and the natural world are interconnected and therefore work to take care of our environment. When I built my house - a multi-family dwelling - we used structurally insulated panels to increase energy efficiency and reduce construction waste. Further to this my family drives used EV and Hybrid vehicles to reduce our footprint.
supporter of environmental initiatives and always understood that social and climate justice issues are deeply interconnected. I've participated in My Sea to Sky letter writing campaigns and petitions and have attended town halls on Woodfibre, most recently calling publicly on Council to reject the proposed deal as as Mayoral candidate. Through my work at DWIFT Housing Society, we're exploring how to build affordable homes that are highly energy-efficient, so both residents and the environment benefit from our projects.
Personally, I understand that humans and the natural world are interconnected and therefore work to take care of our environment. When I built my house - a multi-family dwelling - we used structurally insulated panels to increase energy efficiency and reduce construction waste. Further to this my family drives used EV and Hybrid vehicles to reduce our footprint.
Questions for Squamish
Municipal tax rates are determined by council every year to meet community needs. What do you think the Major Industry tax rate should be set at to ensure Woodfibre LNG contributes its fair share of taxes if the project is assessed at $600 million?
I called on the current Council to reject the proposed deal so new leadership can negotiate one that
actually reflects the project's scale and profitability, rather than locking in a fixed rate for a decade. I won’t
name a number I haven't costed properly, as that wouldn’t serve residents in the long-term. I believe our
Major Industry tax rate should align with similar projects across the province, and evolve over time with
the assessed value of the project.
We should also negotiate with industry for major legacy capital project investments in Squamish, which
most industry towns have successfully secured. Despite our industrial heritage, Squamish has very little
to show for it in terms of amenities, infrastructure, and recreation, and any agreement with Woodfibre
should include from legacy contributions.
actually reflects the project's scale and profitability, rather than locking in a fixed rate for a decade. I won’t
name a number I haven't costed properly, as that wouldn’t serve residents in the long-term. I believe our
Major Industry tax rate should align with similar projects across the province, and evolve over time with
the assessed value of the project.
We should also negotiate with industry for major legacy capital project investments in Squamish, which
most industry towns have successfully secured. Despite our industrial heritage, Squamish has very little
to show for it in terms of amenities, infrastructure, and recreation, and any agreement with Woodfibre
should include from legacy contributions.
What steps will you take to advocate for the health and safety of Squamish residents in response to excessive and harmful air pollution from Woodfibre LNG and FortisBC’s compressor station?
One of my first priorities as Mayor will be to install extensive air and water monitoring stations throughout
the community to track impacts in real time, not after the fact, and not relying solely on Woodfibre's own
data for evidence. There are examples of communities that have successfully implemented this approach
across the province. This will allow us to take a proactive, not reactive, approach to environmental safety.
Where the evidence shows Woodfibre or Fortis BC aren't meeting their operating conditions, I'll work with senior governments to enforce them. We need leadership that is able to hold provincial and federal
government, as well as industry, accountable, despite the challenges of doing so.
the community to track impacts in real time, not after the fact, and not relying solely on Woodfibre's own
data for evidence. There are examples of communities that have successfully implemented this approach
across the province. This will allow us to take a proactive, not reactive, approach to environmental safety.
Where the evidence shows Woodfibre or Fortis BC aren't meeting their operating conditions, I'll work with senior governments to enforce them. We need leadership that is able to hold provincial and federal
government, as well as industry, accountable, despite the challenges of doing so.
What is your position on the proposed Garibaldi at Squamish, Cheema Lands, and North Crumpit developments?
I am not an expert on these specific developments, so I will share my guiding principles for any new
development. I support containing development within our growth boundary in the short-term, and slowing
down growth until our infrastructure and amenities catch up. Growth over the last few years has not
delivered more affordability or quality of life for Squamish residents, sometimes at the expense of our
local environment.
Any new development should not significantly reduce access to nature or recreational amenities, and
environmental impacts should be balanced with affordability impacts, as well as effective consultation with
residents and Squamish Nation to ensure that development delivers meaningful benefits to them.
development. I support containing development within our growth boundary in the short-term, and slowing
down growth until our infrastructure and amenities catch up. Growth over the last few years has not
delivered more affordability or quality of life for Squamish residents, sometimes at the expense of our
local environment.
Any new development should not significantly reduce access to nature or recreational amenities, and
environmental impacts should be balanced with affordability impacts, as well as effective consultation with
residents and Squamish Nation to ensure that development delivers meaningful benefits to them.
Squamish is vulnerable to many climate-related risks (e.g., extreme storms, flooding, sea level rise, wildfire, wildfire smoke, and extreme heat events). How will you address these risks to increase our community’s resilience?
Squamish sits on a floodplain and faces real wildfire and storm risk. My approach is to balance growth
with what our environment can actually sustain, ensuring our infrastructure and amenities can handle the
current and future demands. We need investment in key infrastructure projects, and we need to find
funding sources for them beyond continued property tax increases which are unaffordable for local
residents.
I will work to ensure that future development, industry, and big business pays its fair share for the growth
of Squamish’s climate-resilience infrastructure, as well as advocating effectively to the provincial and
federal government for access to funding to meet these needs.
with what our environment can actually sustain, ensuring our infrastructure and amenities can handle the
current and future demands. We need investment in key infrastructure projects, and we need to find
funding sources for them beyond continued property tax increases which are unaffordable for local
residents.
I will work to ensure that future development, industry, and big business pays its fair share for the growth
of Squamish’s climate-resilience infrastructure, as well as advocating effectively to the provincial and
federal government for access to funding to meet these needs.
How will you continue to collaborate with Indigenous peoples as partners in the stewardship of the land, air, and water, and work towards reconciliation?
I have been honored to work alongside many members of the Squamish Nation in my career in
community service, and made the decision to send my daughter to the St'a7mes School, where she has
thrived, so she can be more connected to Squamish culture and wisdom. Through those experiences, I’ve
built strong relationships and had the opportunity to witness the impact of Nation leadership for the
environment.
As Mayor, I will work proactively together to deliver the greatest impact for all our residents. We are lucky
to be neighbors and partners of the Squamish Nation, who have stewarded this land since time
immemorial and hold so much wisdom and knowledge about what is needed to protect our land, air, and
water. We need to deepen our partnership and be guided by their expertise and existing effective
partnerships with environmental stewardship organizations to make the best decisions for our natural
environment.
As local governments working together, our role is to develop deep, trusting, and meaningful partnerships
that deliver quality of life for residents now and long into the future. We will make the greatest impact as
collaborators united under a shared purpose and with clear shared goals.
community service, and made the decision to send my daughter to the St'a7mes School, where she has
thrived, so she can be more connected to Squamish culture and wisdom. Through those experiences, I’ve
built strong relationships and had the opportunity to witness the impact of Nation leadership for the
environment.
As Mayor, I will work proactively together to deliver the greatest impact for all our residents. We are lucky
to be neighbors and partners of the Squamish Nation, who have stewarded this land since time
immemorial and hold so much wisdom and knowledge about what is needed to protect our land, air, and
water. We need to deepen our partnership and be guided by their expertise and existing effective
partnerships with environmental stewardship organizations to make the best decisions for our natural
environment.
As local governments working together, our role is to develop deep, trusting, and meaningful partnerships
that deliver quality of life for residents now and long into the future. We will make the greatest impact as
collaborators united under a shared purpose and with clear shared goals.
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