1. It’s day one on the job… and to start your work with the Park Board, you are invited to make one change in one park – which park do you pick, and what do you do?
Day one is all about pools. At our first meeting of the Park Board in November, it’s expected that a staff report on the suitability of Kensington and Hastings as locations for a 50m pool will be reviewed. Our goal as Greens is to have a 50m pool in East Vancouver, a very underserved area in our city for aquatics.
2. In your opinion, how well is the delivery of parks and public spaces aligned with the type of growth and change taking place in Vancouver’s neighbourhoods?
There has been disproportionate allocation of recreation and greenspace in areas of high development and density. Our city’s most socially and economically vulnerable neighbourhoods are the neighbourhoods with the least access to parks and public spaces, while our most affluent neighbourhoods enjoy the greatest access to natural space. There has been multi-million dollar gaps in funding for the Park Board to invest in the neighbourhoods that need parks the most. As our population grows, Greens are committed to ensuring that we are building homes alongside parks, public washrooms, quiet and traffic calming areas, and cooling resource centres.
3. Heavier rains, more intense heat, and wildfire smoke are all being described as part of a “new normal” tied to climate change. Should Vancouver’s parks and recreation facilities play a part in supporting climate resilience or climate adaptation? If yes, how?
Yes, our parks and recreation facilities should be used as part of preventative tools to combat changing climate. We know that they are vital as reactionary tools, for example, during heat waves as cooling centres. What we need to focus on as a Park Board is ensuring that we are proactive as we renovate and build new community centres. A good example is the relationship between swimming pools and ice rinks. Pools can use the heat captured from cooling rinks down as an energy source.
Another incredibly effective way to reduce our emissions in Park Board facilities is to increase the access to plant-based food options. Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change and by adopting the Plant Based Treaty and adding a mandate for plant-based food at community centres, we can greatly reduce the impact these centres have.
4. The Park Board (and City) is under increasing pressure to find new ways to finance park upgrades, deliver new parks, and cover other capital and operational costs. How do you propose financing your priorities in the context of the broader City budgeting process?
Sadly, the “Zero means Zero” budget means zero improvements to parks, and not even enough money to operate. Many costs are being passed along to the user, resulting in essentially double taxation. The Greens have committed to fully funding the Park Board again. In addition to a fully funded budget, there is opportunity to generate the short term funding needed desperately for renewal of our community centres by borrowing $60 million to fund infrastructure repair. Voting “Yes” on this question on the plebiscite in our upcoming election will help achieve this goal.
5. Vancouver is a city with a very diverse population with lots of different cultures calling this place home. Should the Park Board be doing more to respond to the needs of different cultural user groups? If yes, what sorts of changes to Park Board processes or practices would you envision?
Yes, we can always do more to ensure that our diverse population is represented in our parks and community centres. Translation services at our facilities, as well as print and online materials available in the major languages spoken in Vancouver would help to message our programs and activities. Reaching out to cultural user groups to encourage use of our public spaces instead of passively waiting for permit applications would help ensure that these groups are given priority and supported.
6. We have to ask: are you planning – secretly, overtly, or otherwise – to abolish or reform the Park Board? If yes, what are you intending to do? In general, what’s your vision for Park Board governance?
Absolutely not. An independently run Park Board is the exact reason why we have over 250 parks and 24 community centres. The Park Board is proof that our city prioritizes its community and green spaces. Voters should be wary of any party who claims abolishment of the Park Board as one of its efficiency measures.
7. In recent years, the Park Board has taken steps towards reconciliation, decolo
Reconciliation shapes how we steward land that was never ours to begin with. Progress so far has come from MST leadership and staff working in good faith, and the next board needs to protect it, not restart it. This is how I would conduct my relationship with MST as a commissioner:
- Meet with MST leadership early, listen, and ask how they want to be engaged before arriving with an agenda.
- Bring the Nations into planning for park changes and facility upgrades from the start, and respect their processes and timelines.
- Co-management asks a lot of Nations’ staff and capacity. I’d make sure the budget supports their participation so reconciliation isn’t the first line item cut under funding pressure.
- Support Indigenous-led programming, language revitalization, and place-name restoration, and use procurement to create real opportunities for Indigenous-owned caterers, artists, and businesses.
- Share progress plainly, including what hasn’t worked, so the Nations and the public can hold us accountable.
8. What, if anything, do you think the Park Board should do to support/facilitate community activation and stewardship of park spaces and facilities?
- Simplify and accelerate the permitting process for community events, taking into consideration the use of space. Ex. utilization of a large green area for an evening in the summer should have little to no barrier to be able to run
- Proactively reach out to community groups that often go unnoticed or lack the funding for large events to ensure that they have support with running events, using park space, and reaching a broader community
- Pilot new and exciting programs that solve problems or invite people into spaces that they would otherwise not have accessed. Community gardens and food forests are great examples of this.
9. We are living in a period of both increasing polarization and increasing social isolation. Should the Parks Board be doing more to respond to these issues? If yes, what do you propose?
Yes, parks and community centres are some of the last spaces that exist where individuals can meet each other for free. There are a few ways the Park Board can support connection.
- Design of our spaces. Large open atriums, public seating, and viewing decks encourage people to “collide” with one another, creating small talk, relationships, and excitement
- Programmers, youth leaders, and volunteer coordinators are often the most well connected people in a community. Relying on their expertise and recommendation for fostering connection is a vital requirement of a Park Board
- Food is a fantastic way to bond people together. Trout Lake has a community harvest dinner in October, Burrard View Park has a food forest that grows year round, Kits Community Centre holds cooking classes for families. These are all examples or small events and programs that can bring a lot of individuals to a table to create connection. As a commissioner, I would encourage funding of these initiatives in our spaces.
10. Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your platform?
- Upgrading aging facilities so pools and community centres, are safe, accessible, and well maintained.
- Protect greenspace from erosion by development.
- Preserve the elected Park Board, so decisions about our parks and community centres stay locally accountable.
- Advance equity and decolonization, in partnership with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
I’m running collectively with other candidates because I believe in shared leadership and a board that works as a team. I’m running under the Green Party banner because climate resilience, from tree canopy to heat response, belongs at the centre of how we manage parks.