VOTE JOHN DACOMBE FOR COURTENAY COUNCIL

Environment

A healthy local environment is fundamental to everything else. This includes increasing local food production, conservation and restoration of our salmon streams and rivers, restricting suburban and exurban sprawl, and far wiser use of water. Here’s my solutions:

  1. Effective mitigation of 6-PPDQ must be mandatory in all road building and development, including mandatory ongoing maintenance of 6-PPDQ mitigation infrastructure; and a ban on the use of turf made from recycled tires.

  1. The existing Regional Growth Strategy must be retained, and municipal boundaries not extended.

  1. Salmon stream culvert replacement projects recently delayed must be reinstated immediately.

  1. All development must protect local ecosystems.

  1. Universal volumetric water metering must be instituted and water policy must be redesigned to incentivize pollinator-friendly and food gardens.

  1. I support a low-cost year-round farmer’s market.

  1. Build at least two public RV septic dump stations in the Comox Valley by summer 2027, in order to reduce illegal dumping.

  1. Add Scotch Broom to the City’s nuisance bylaw and enforce removal.

Climate change

The single biggest threat to Courtenay is from climate change:

  1. Rising sea levels, more severe winter storms, and intense rain events mean worsened flooding in parts of our city in coming years;

  1. No glacier, reduced snowpack, and increasing droughts threaten everyone’s access to fresh water in summer, and increase the risk from fire:

  1. The Puntledge hydroelectric station is already seeing summer shutdowns due to low river flows, threatening our local electricity generation.

What are the local solutions?

  1. Universal volumetric water metering will ensure safe supplies of potable water for Courtenay residents for decades to come, and guarantee higher river flows for hydro and salmon;

  1. Increased micro solar on area roofs will ensure adequate summer electricity, exactly when river flows are lower;

  1. The relocation of municipal infrastructure away from low-lying areas has already begun and must continue;

  2. Increasing our urban tree canopy will mitigate hotter summer temperatures.