Vancouver is currently facing a wide range of crises including affordability, housing, healthcare, climate change, and others. These issues affect the majority of BC citizens in their day-to-day lives and are currently overshadowed by the needs and wants of industry. I am a conservation scientist who wants to ensure that evidence-based science is effectively translated into policy and legislation in our province. My goal as Councillor-At-Large - Vancouver is to make sure that the regional membership is engaged and has their concerns reflected in each opportunity at council meetings. I will achieve this by being transparent and holding myself accountable to constituents. As a father of a young child, it is important to work together to ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations.
ABOUT WADE
I am a Marine Biologist and graduate student at Simon Fraser University (SFU) studying marine comparative biology and conservation and how the species in our oceans may be affected by the current climate projections. I have served in multiple roles on councils and unions at SFU including Biology council representative for the Simon Fraser Student Society. Recently, I have been working with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group to assess the extinction risk of the world’s sharks and rays. I have authored and co-authored more than 60 assessments for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
I grew up in the Whalley-Guildford neighbourhood of Surrey. Like many others in Metro Vancouver, I have been a renter for nearly half my life and have lived in Surrey, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and for the majority of the last 10 years, Vancouver’s West End. I can relate to the many people in Vancouver who have had to work multiple jobs, while also juggling school, to make ends meet due to our affordability crisis.
I am particularly interested in fisheries management and how governing bodies navigate trying to appease all stakeholders while also ensuring the conservation of species. This translates well into collaborating as Councillor-At-Large with other members and stakeholders of the BC Greens.