Convening for Action in British Columbia

Paul Ham spent 34 years with the City of Surrey, retiring as General Manager of Engineering. Without Paul Ham’s quiet and unassuming leadership behind the scenes, would the green infrastructure movement in British Columbia have successfully launched a generation ago? Somebody had to go first and establish the landmark precedent. That is what Surrey did with the East Clayton Sustainable Community. Green infrastructure at a community scale! It all started with East Clayton.

“I frequently hear comments and concerns about getting buy-in to asset management within the organization and with the elected officials. Recently I spoke to a mayor who said, ‘I do not understand what this is about’ and added ‘we are already too busy with a very small staff!’. Communications (and miscommunication) continue to be our biggest barrier. This quote sums up some of our issues: The asset management community has lost sight of Sustainable Service Delivery strategies because it is lost in the details of Asset Management,” stated Wally Wells.

“With climate change, we must have all hands on deck. Engaging citizen lake stewards throughout the province would extend the ability of government, as we face climate change. It is a growing agency, with huge potential, of embracing provincial direction with engagement of its citizens. There is magic when government actually engages community and community members share a passion for protecting and enhancing aquatic habitat. I speak from my experience in government when I was manager of the Urban Salmon Habitat Program in the 1990s,” stated Eric Bonham.

Dr. Shannon Waters spoke of the need for a more holistic relationship with water, through the integration of indigenous knowledge and western science. To relate to water as “kin” rather than a “commodity” for “Water is Life”, (Hulit un tst tu’ qa’). This pragmatic endeavour aligns different perspectives, age groups and disciplines to, with common purpose, address the reality of climate change, ensuring the implementation of practical solutions from the local to the global, based upon knowledge, wisdom, respect, responsibility, and relationships.

“A lot of things that took place in the 2000s are the building blocks which people have forgotten. As Darrell Mussatto, former mayor of the City of North Vancouver, points out in his story behind the story, the loss of understanding in the Metro Vancouver region is real. In the 2000s, politicians and staff were aligned. This fueled political commitment to take action to achieve a shared vision. To find a path forward in these challenging times, you have to understand your oral history and frame it accordingly! Where we have landed on is risk management,” stated Kim Stephens.

“There has been a recent loss of long-term knowledge and experience because people who were providing regional leadership, and trying hard to make a difference, have retired from public office. The loss of understanding is real,” stated Darrell Mussatto. He served on North Vancouver City Council for 25 years, including 13 years as mayor. His time in office coincides with the timeline for the early adopter and leading by example phases of the Metro Vancouver region’s green infrastructure journey. He views the journey through both the local and regional lenses.

“It never hurts to be able to organize. There is no doubt that a military background, especially for anyone who has served as an officer, will provide a strong organizational capacity. Thinking back, I have no doubt that contributed significantly to my ability to do that sort of integrative science. One of the greatest benefits I got from my naval service was being able to own up to mistakes when I made them and to admit that in front of people and work towards resolving those errors. Later at UBC, I found that this is actually very much in keeping with a scientific perspective,” stated Dr. Dave Preikshot.

“Why did BC local governments not follow through and learn from the example of the three states along the west coast? In BC, in parallel with the US states we did continue to research the problems and to identify practical improvements to our practice of rainwater management. For many practitioners it is far easier to simply add ground infiltration measures to existing drainage practices. The stream has not been included in any meaningful manner and the impacts have not been quantified, nor have the effects of any mitigation works,” stated Jim Dumont.

Michael Blackstock believes that a message of hope is paramount in these times of droughts, forest fires and floods. “Rather than looking through a cumulative effects lens, I also see the concept of ‘cumulative healing’ landing as a way to give back to water and land. Rather than wondering how much more can we take or impact land before we need to stop, instead we should ask how much longer should we let the water and land heal, before we ask for more,” states Michael Blackstock.

“Mother Nature has an amazing sense of timing. On the 20th anniversary of the evacuation of 27,000 people from Kelowna due to forest fires, history repeated itself in August in the Kelowna region, in particular West Kelowna. We have had two decades to prepare for the obvious and the inevitable. 2003 was the first of a series of teachable years, with the full onslaught of a changing climate hitting hard as of 2015. Climate change is accelerating. There is no time to re-invent the wheel, fiddle, or go down cul-de-sacs. Understand how the past informs the future and build on that experience,” stated Kim Stephens.