Melanie Cheng

School Board · Vancouver

Vancouver 30 yrs

About

Melanie Cheng is an East Vancouver mother of three, an award-winning paralegal, and a public education advocate. She helped stop 12 school closures, led campaigns to protect school land, and founded a society serving hundreds of students.

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

✓ 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.

✓ 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

✓ 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

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.

✓ 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?

My climate advocacy has focused on protecting public land, green space, and community infrastructure. I have spoken nationally about climate change and launched a provincial petition calling for an annual day of recognition for the lives lost during British Columbia’s devastating 2021 heat dome. This work has helped draw attention to the human consequences of the climate crisis and the need for governments and public institutions to prepare for extreme weather.

Locally, I led the campaign to protect a local school field from development and challenged the Vancouver School Board’s plans to subdivide other school sites for condos. Protecting school fields and green spaces is essential for climate resilience, community health, and children’s access to outdoor recreation.

I founded a recreation society which has provided opportunities for recreation for hundreds of children on school fields. I have advocated for accessible recreation and community services close to where families live. Strong neighbourhood infrastructure helps reduce long trips and creates healthier, more connected communities.

As a Trustee, I would support climate-resilient schools, energy-efficient seismic upgrades, healthy indoor air and cooling systems, protection of school green space, and transparent implementation of the VSB’s environmental sustainability commitments. I believe that climate action must be equitable and centered on protecting vulnerable community members.

Questions for Vancouver

What is your position on gas hookups for new buildings?

Will you vote to restore full funding for the Sustainability Office? In your view, what is the role of the Sustainability Office?

What is your view on a moratorium on AI data centres, given the natural resources they require?

Given the “controversy” of the Villages Plan, how do you envision accommodating the population growth of the City while dealing with the impacts of climate change?

What is your plan to create climate safeguards for all of Vancouver’s inhabitants, including the unhoused population?

Compiled & presented by

Authorized by Doctors for Planetary Health - West Coast, registered sponsor under LECFA, doctors4planetaryhealth@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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