Sacia Burton

I am proud to have advocated consistently for investment in a climate safe future during my time working with the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition. I have presented the BC Climate Emergency Campaign’s report to the Minister for Energy and Climate Solutions for the last two years, wherein colleagues and I have called out the provincial government's unwillingness to meaningfully invest in evidence-based climate mitigation efforts. My advocacy work with BCPRC took aim at every level of Canadian government to ensure that leaders at every level are using all available tools to tackle the climate crisis. I have pushed for systemic solutions, such as greater investment in public transit and taxation of corporations, over consumer-based solutions.

My advocacy has extended into my personal life through participation in sit-ins, art projects, workshops, and ongoing learning, and has informed my transportation and consumption habits. I have been invested in this work for nearly 20 years, and recognize climate advocacy as generational work that we cannot afford to get wrong.

It’s a hard no. We cannot afford to build towards an energy future that, for the sake of our climate, must be made obsolete. By integrating gas hookups in new builds we run the risk of doubling construction costs by tacking on the required retrofit down the road. Let’s get it right the first time.

Although the Park Board is not directly involved in voting for the funding of the sustainability office, I would be loudly supportive of the Office’s return. This cut will continue to have ripple effects in Vancouver, and it’s critical that the city corrects course to rebuild the continuity of work done by the Sustainability Office. Between the work to be done in both the built and natural environments, the Sustainability Office is a necessary hub for coordinating best practices.

AI data centres don’t belong in our city – or frankly, anywhere else. This runaway tech boom is having demonstrably negative impacts on our ecosystems, our waterways, and our capacity for critical thinking. In order to entertain the idea of AI data centers as a worthwhile investment and tradeoff for use of public resources, there would need to be serious evidence to suggest that the value outweighs the harm. At this time, that evidence is not available.

As our city continues to densify, with families living in smaller homes, more people are coming to rely on Vancouver’s parks as our communal backyards and our community centers as shared living spaces. Unfortunately, consecutive local governments have let real estate developers off the hook for the contributions they are meant to pay into maintaining our parks and public spaces, thus leaving our parks and especially our community centers in critical need of repair. Moving forward, both the Park Board and City Council must be stronger negotiators on behalf of all public space users.

Residents in neighbourhoods all across the city should be able to access the amenities they need to live a full and enjoyable life within reasonable walking distance. Just as my colleagues on Council will work towards that goal through zoning and development approvals, COPE Park Board Commissioners will work to improve the accessibility and availability of public spaces.

It is crucial that the incoming local government takes climate mitigation seriously. Spaces managed by Park Board, particularly parks and community centers, are often the last bastion of refuge during unsafe conditions – both for housed and unhoused neighbours. To ensure immediate public safety and well-being during crises, community centers should be adequately equipped to act as cooling and warming centers, have staff on hand to connect people to additional community resources, and offer extended hours during times when it is unsafe to be outdoors for prolonged periods.

In the community centers, rinks, pools, and fieldhouses that Park Board jointly operates, there are both opportunities and responsibilities to ensure heating and cooling is done without fossil fuels; that low-carbon options are prioritized for repairs and construction projects; and that alternative energy production projects (such as the solar panels on Creekside Community Center’s roof) are explored and expedited.

Further, the maintenance of the seawall and living shorelines will be a critical space for investment in the coming years as we navigate sea level rise. Similarly, we must ensure that the urban tree canopy strategy is planting climate resilient species that have higher drought tolerance, and that work to expand the shade canopy is prioritized in the DTES and neighbourhoods that now regularly experience heat island conditions in the summer.