Solomon Yi-Kieran

In my role as vice president at UBC's student union, I helped secure $40,000,000 in federal funding for youth climate jobs in the 2025 federal budget by working with climate activists and federal and provincial politicians from all parties.

Additionally, I led the campaign advocating for the UBC SkyTrain, including running a petition which garnered over 15,000 signatures and passing a motion at Vancouver city council to endorse the project. The UBC SkyTrain will take thousands of cars off the roads every day, and reduce Metro Vancouver's car dependence significantly.

I know how to work with higher levels of government to secure funding and investment for my community, and will do the same in city hall to advance climate action.

Ken Sim's repeated attempts to repeal the ban on gas hookups for new buildings is a direct result of his connection to big money backers, and having gas businessmen like David Grewal as special advisors. COPE stands for bringing back Vancouver's gas ban. We will also build-out a municipal lobbyist registry to make sure gas lobbyists aren't able to continue rolling back city hall's climate policy.

I will vote to restore full funding. The Sustainability Office should play a large and active role in initiatives such as expanding urban tree cover in East Vancouver and South Vancouver, strengthening local food systems, and protecting native wildlife and biodiversity.

I have been a leading voice in the push for a moratorium on AI data centres. I spoke at two of the large No AI Vancouver marches, COPE has organized a townhall to educate the community about the dangers posed by AI data centres, and COPE recently held a press conference to announce our full platform surround AI.

We are committed to a moratorium on AI data centres, pausing AI in schools, and having regulations on AI use at city hall.

The Villages Plan proposed much-needed density, but fell short due to a lack of community consultation and a lack of protections for tenants from displacement. It also fell short due to proposed upzonings being away from existing transit infrastructure which is necessary to ensure denser areas aren't constrained by car dependence.

COPE is committed to ensuring that density comes alongside strong protections against displacement for tenants, protects affordability, and is planned with transit and amenities in mind so as to reduce car dependence and strain on transit networks.

We also need to ensure that new housing being built protects residents from the impacts of climate change. This looks like a maximum heat by-law which ensures tenants have the right to cool, so that residents aren't at risk during heat domes and extreme weather events.

COPE will ensure that there is equitable access to tree-cover across Vancouver, especially addressing gaps in East and South Vancouver. This will ensure that all of Vancouver's residents have access to shaded trees and neighbourhoods which are insulated from extreme summer heats.

We will ensure equitable funding for staffing and for repairs and renewals go to the community centres which need them most, so that all neighbourhoods can access safe spaces and cooling centres during extreme heat events and periods of intense wildfire smoke. Ken Sim and ABC not only cut funding to programming and cooling kits during their brutal austerity budget, but they also ignored the park board's recommendations on which community centres needed funding most urgently in the capital plan. Instead, they funded the community centres in neighbourhoods that voted for them.

COPE will restore funding for cooling kits.

COPE will secure 20,000 new affordable homes, prioritizing supportive and shelter rate housing. We need to ensure that people aren't stuck in on the street, in old homes without proper ventilation, or in 90 year old SROs, during extreme heat events. We will also support retrofits, so that older homes can be made more climate resilient to ensure all residents are protected.