Wayne Carson
Council · Vernon
About
Wayne Carson is putting his name forward for a seat on Vernon City Council with a practical record of public service, emergency response experience, and local government leadership. For more information see votewaynecarson.ca
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
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Implement a 'right to cool' bylaw to protect tenants during extreme heat events.
Neutral
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
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Enact a moratorium on AI data centres to protect our energy and water resources.
Neutral
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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
✓
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
✓
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.
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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!).
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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?
I am running on a FireSmart Platform. My background makes me the candidate to move FireSmart from educational to operational. if we're serious about climate impact, we need to talk about wildfire, because there's no bigger single climate event hitting this valley than an out-of-control interface fire. FireSmart and structural protection, isn't separate from climate action, it is climate action, and I believe it's where this city can have its single greatest impact.
Questions for Vernon
1. This question (see below) is the same as the 1st environmental question on the Vital Vote website: https://www.cfno.org/vitalvote-home
Development outside the containment boundary needs to meet FireSmart standards and a real assessment as to water availability. Domestic water for the RDNO and Vernon is at a critical state. Our current sources are all at historic and critically low levels. Options such as Okanagan Lake and possible ground water sources need tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure to provide another domestic water source for4 the city and Provincial licensing would be needed and unlikely as Okanagan Lake is also at historic lows. Mayor and council will have the difficult task of finding an alternative to the dire situation we currently face.
2. This question (see below) is the same as the 2nd environmental question on the Vital Vote website: https://www.cfno.org/vitalvote-home
FireSmart will drastically lower emissions. When wildfire tears through a neighbourhood, it's not just trees burning anymore, its homes, vehicles, insulation, plastics, everything, releasing enormous volumes of smoke and emissions in days that dwarf years of small conservation gains.
An operational Structural Sprinkler Protection Program. I am the candidate with that program and the background, connections and drive to make it a reality.
An operational Structural Sprinkler Protection Program. I am the candidate with that program and the background, connections and drive to make it a reality.
3. This question (see below) is the same as the 3rd environmental question on the Vital Vote website: https://www.cfno.org/vitalvote-home
Yes to: support the use of public funds to contribute to acquiring natural lands for environmental conservation purposes.
Would hesitate on part 2. Water is the factor that limits growth and development within Vernon. Most of the land that is available for development is outside the OCP containment boundary. I don't foresee a lot of development there as it would run afoul of the OCP and be difficult to move past Mayor and council. Densification of the areas within the containment boundary will be almost exclusively where existing infrastructure is in place and should render the land set aside for conservation safe from development.
Would hesitate on part 2. Water is the factor that limits growth and development within Vernon. Most of the land that is available for development is outside the OCP containment boundary. I don't foresee a lot of development there as it would run afoul of the OCP and be difficult to move past Mayor and council. Densification of the areas within the containment boundary will be almost exclusively where existing infrastructure is in place and should render the land set aside for conservation safe from development.
4. This question (see below) is the same as the 4th environmental question on the Vital Vote website: https://www.cfno.org/vitalvote-home
Again I go to FireSmart. If the water sheds are not protected from wildfire we will find our water problem to intensify beyond our ability to offer any type of mitigation. Vernon and the entire RDNO would be in serious trouble with few if any alternatives.
5. Describe what you have done regarding climate change and related issues in our community – for example, advocacy, past work, advisory committees, volunteer work, and/or reducing your own personal carbon footprint.
I have been advocating for structural protection from wildfire for almost thirty years now. 21 years as a rural fire chief, 15 years with BC Forest Service in the Vernon Zone as a Class A fire warden and 12 years as a Local Government representative. Controling wildfire would be the biggest and best way to impact climate change in our area.
6. What climate-related infrastructure risks worry you most here (fire, heat, drought, air quality, floods, sea level rise), and how will you address reducing those risks to keep our community safe?
Wildfire. My structural Protection Plan. All on votewaynecarson.ca
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