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?
I would like to improve the lighting in Andy Livingstone Park – and many other parks.
One thing that I have heard from folks, especially women and marginalized groups, is that they do not always feel safe in our parks after dark – lighting in one way to help change that. OneCity Vancouver has a plan to ReLight Vancouver, by adding lighting along street corridors and within park spaces. I would like to see our spaces used to their fullest potential, and that requires infrastructure to help folks feel more secure and comfortable in utilizing them, any time of day or night.
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?
Vancouver has not kept up in the creation of new community centres, parks, pools, and public spaces to support our growing population.
We see that many existing community centres do not meet the needs of the communities they serve, as documented in the community centre strategy document released in 2022.
We see in their most recent capital plan that ABC is not willing to make these investments in a fair and transparent way, as witnessed in their break from the Community Centre Strategy. Because of this, Renfrew Community Centre has been removed as a priority (where the Community Centre Strategy indicated it was the #2 priority for renewal).
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, absolutely.
Community centres and indoor pools should have adequate cooling and air filtration during heat waves and smoke brought on by forest fires. Air filtration has other benefits as well, reducing the spread of influenza and creating safer spaces for people to enjoy.
Community centres, especially, serve as hubs for refuge in severe weather events – a process that should continue.
We have a plan to increase the tree canopy target to 40%, by updating the Urban Forest Strategy to expand access to leafy streets and the accompanying ecological resiliency. We also need to expedite the planting of other resilient species, especially urban meadows through our plan to ReWild Vancouver. Taken together, these plans will help to keep residents cooler in hotter weather, slowing/reducing water runoff, and preventing soil erosion.
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?
OneCity has a plan to sustain the Park Board, using no- and low-cost tools with a long-term strategy to increase the independence and resiliency of the Park Board, so that the board can do what it was elected to do: protect our parks and community spaces. One example of this is the launch of a gift shop program in some parks that give Vancouverites a way to support the parks they love without a single fee going up. I will also pursue grants available from senior levels of government, ensuring that there is no money left on the table.
Alongside a progressive City Council, we’ll make sure the Park Board keeps the revenue it earns, instead of losing it to the general city coffers – this will work to reward sound fiscal management of Park Board Commissioners, and allow for investment in other spaces or programming in the future.
As a Park Board Commissioner, I would push to complete planning on several projects to get them to a point where they are ‘shovel ready’ – to then approach senior levels of government alongside City Council to obtain investments to help get these projects moving forward. This process is unlikely to be immediate, but having these projects ready allows us to move fast when funds are available.
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. There are neighbourhoods in this city with historic and present day cultural communities. I would like to see the Park Board work with these communities to design spaces that celebrate this history and recognize the diversity of this City. An existing example of this is the Dr. Sun Yet-Sen Gardens, a space that celebrates the Chinatown community.
This would require consultation with the local communities and the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Watuth Nations to ensure we move forward in the best way; but could involve names of parks, monuments, planting of culturally-specific species, and/or working with community groups to ensure that festivals and events are 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?
I am overtly looking to keep and sustain a thriving Park Board.
By implementing the no- and low-cost tools, previously mentioned, we can increase the independence and resiliency of the Park Board. Once we can show Vancouverites the value proposition of a functional, funded Park Board, we can pursue longer-term strategies to reinforce these.
My vision for the governance of the Park Board is to serve as a single hub for folks to raise concerns and ideas regarding our parks, pools, beaches, and community centres – without as much need to make that same pitch to City Council later (often requiring one to take time off work).
7. In recent years, the Park Board has taken steps towards reconciliation, decolo
Yes. It is critical to continue building relationships with the three host nations and move past the colonial histories of our institutions. I have worked for an Indigenous matriarch for a number of years, and strongly believe in the power of consultation and collaboration.
We live on the traditional and unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples – and in sharing this space, we must do so with respect. By working, government-to-government, we can continue to build these relationships and build one city for all.
These collaborations can involve renaming sites to their historic, cultural names, or in our ReWild Vancouver plan to increase park land, grow urban meadows, and resurface buried creek systems for greater access to green, wild spaces in this city.
8. What, if anything, do you think the Park Board should do to support/facilitate community activation and stewardship of park spaces and facilities?
Expansion of community gardens in park spaces is a great move, as well as increasing our pollinator gardens and meadows. Communities are interested in participating and stewarding these spaces, they just need to be empowered to do so. The South Memorial Park pollinator garden is an excellent example of this, as are the community gardens in park spaces that we see across this city.
As mentioned above, OneCity has a plan to ReWild Vancouver, in planting more indigenous species, building on the important work of organizations like Free the Fern, who promote better education and in re-instating some of the ecological diversity that has been lost to the proliferation of invasive species.
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?
Park Board governs buildings that serve as ‘third spaces,’ places to gather that are not home or work. These free and low cost spaces allow for folks to come, connect, and build community.
We also need to be creating safe spaces for communities that are under threat in these increasingly polarized times – something the Park Board has been doing a good job on in terms of providing safe spaces for trans and gender diverse swimmers, for example. The Park Board should listen to communities who are feeling unsafe, and work to provide resources and space to allow for the safe use of our spaces.
10. Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your platform?
I am committed to this work, and we know that with an ambitious, collaborative, and more cooperative Park Board, we can start to build back our infrastructure and create parks, pools, and community centres that all of Vancouver can be proud of.