As part of our coverage for the 2022 municipal election, The Squamish Chief sent out questionnaires to all candidates running either for council or the mayor’s office. Identical questions were provided to each candidate, who had the chance to send written responses.
What follows are the unedited responses for this candidate. Those who did not respond by press deadline do not have answers to publish.
Furthermore, candidates were also invited to film a short elevator pitch. This candidate’s elevator pitch is embedded in this story.
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Please state your name and political party
Adrien Byrne (Squamish First)
How do you think council can help with the housing affordability crisis in Squamish?
If elected, I will support attainable rental and ownership housing proposals for the middle class people that live and work in Squamish. I will preference housing for Squamish locals over outside investors. Rent-to-own projects, purpose built rental, and staff housing for our key workers will have my support. I will support dual income and single parent families, by pressing for more affordable childcare spaces in the district - allowing parents to return to work and earn an income following the end of their maternity or parental leave.
Some locals have been calling for a pause on development on private land, but council does not have the power to do that. How will you reconcile that disconnect?
I will not support densification in established single-family neighbourhoods such as Garibaldi Estates, Valleycliffe and Brackendale that local residents do not support. I will not support the repeal of the Veterans Land Act.
Where development and density does occur, it is my priority that the next council require developers pay through the nose in the form of community amenity contributions. For to long, developers have been profiting off our community, our natural environment, and existing infrastructure without a proportionate contribution back to our community and its amenities.
Squamish First should not have to be campaigning for an upgraded recreation centre, downtown parkade and second entrance into downtown at this election - this should have already been financed by previous development and completed under the two previous councils which dropped the ball. I have been listening to the community and we intend to deliver on these infrastructure commitments going forward.
Do you own property in Squamish? When was the last time you were a renter?
The bank owns my property, and I pay a mortgage like many families in our town. My partner and I are currently on multiple 3-year long waitlists for childcare in Squamish, and we are therefore familiar with the challenges experienced by Squamish families paying either a mortgage or rent on a single income. That is why, when I announced my candidacy for council in the upcoming election, one of my top priorities is to build more childcare spaces in Squamish and staff housing for key workers including our early childhood educators.
I was a renter from the age of 18 to 31 before purchasing in Squamish in 2016. I understand and empathise with challenges faced by renters, having been one for most of my adult life - in particular the low vacancy rate in Squamish. I am committed to supporting proposals and policies that enable construction of more purpose built rental supply for local people, staff housing, and rent-to-own opportunities.
How do you typically get to work? When was the last time you rode a bus?
As a result of the pandemic, my work has mostly been carried out via Zoom meetings since 2020. My present focus and dedication is on the people of Squamish and listening to their concerns and views face-to-face. This may involve using my car for transit to Brackendale, the Estates or Valleycliffe, or simply walking downtown and meeting with locals at the Farmers Market, our community gardeners, or speaking with local businesses. I generally walk to our excellent local bakeries and cafes, breakfast spots, grocery store or post office. Vehicles are a necessity in Squamish for anyone in transit to Whistler or the City, or simply just wanting to enjoy our many natural spaces in and around Squamish.
The importance of cars and trucks to the people of Squamish is not lost on me, nor is the very real parking issues we have downtown. That is why, I will not support any more parking variances for developers which simply pushes vehicles on to our streets exacerbating our parking problems
Have you had to find child care in Squamish?
It is impossible to find childcare for infants aged 12-36 months in Squamish. I was not intending to run as a candidate in this local election, however I was inspired to do so after speaking to local childcare providers about the extent of the crisis in the provision of childcare spaces in town. Provider after provider informed my partner and I of three year waitlists. In my view, previous councils have been asleep at the wheel on this policy issue as Squamish has experienced a boom in young families with small kids needing childcare.
The lack of this important social infrastructure exacerbates our crisis in affordability due to loss of family income, worsens our labour shortage with parents unable to return to work following maternity or parental leave, and fails the early education needs of our kids. My bar to success on this matter at the end of the next council term is drastically reduced childcare waitlists.
Do you or have you ever owned a business in Squamish? Do you pay commercial rent?
No. I have been out meeting small businesses and representatives from the Squamish Chamber. I am aware of there many policy priorities and concerns - if elected, our business community will have a friendly voice on council and I will always be prepared to listen and engage with our large and small business operators.
In your opinion, does Squamish have a parking problem? If so, what will you do about it?
Squamish certainly has a parking problem and the issue is constantly raised to me by the residents and business owners of Squamish. There are two primary reasons for this. Firstly, developers are not building enough parking spaces in their new developments to accomodate the vehicle ownership needs of residents in those buildings. This is simply pushing vehicles on to our streets and converting a private development responsibility into a public challenge - essentially developers are passing the buck and the problem to the community. Secondly, a downtown parkade should have been financed and built long ago - seniors, business owners and their staff experience our downtown parking problem on a daily basis.
I, along with my Squamish First colleagues, will pursue a common-sense approach to building a downtown parkade on day one. We will not allow developers to pass the buck on their responsibilities to provide parking to the residents of their buildings.
What ways would you support council addressing the climate crisis?
I support the District's current Community Action Climate Plan's commitment to net-zero by 2050 and generally the overall strategy to meet this goal. The plan's major weakness for Squamish is in its 'Shift Beyond the Car' Strategy - particularly the current council's strategy to "dis-incentivise private vehicle use". This element of the strategy is harmful to many segments of the Squamish population, and again has the objective of increasing density in new development while providing for even less parking in future projects. It aims to penalise parents with kids, and penalize our senior drivers by making parking more difficult in our core hubs. The private vehicle fleet will inevitably transition to net-zero emissions, and this anti-car mentality makes no sense in a community such as Squamish.
In addition to net-zero by 2050, our green-tech sector will have my support. I want to work with those companies to expand their presence in Squamish, and support green jobs in our community.
The municipality has control over passing bylaws, budget planning and approval, committees, board and commission appointments and general oversight of municipal administration. Within those powers, what didn’t the last council do that you want to make a priority?
The last council, and the council prior, failed to develop an adequate Community Amenity Contribution policy while proceeding with a fast pace of densification. As a result, developers have profited off our town, at the same time our infrastructure and community amenities have deteriorated. There is also no realistic density bonus policy. Combined and as a result, the current and previous council have left substantial funding gaps for our infrastructure while lining the pockets of big developers. We should have another swimming pool, another sheet of ice, a splash park, more physical childcare space, more playgrounds, arts and park amenities generally under the current council - instead we have seen a deterioration in these amenities alongside runaway population growth and density. I, along with my Squamish First colleagues, will take a common sense approach to managing the pace of development and making sure developers pay their fair share to our core infrastructure needs.
