New sidewalks for Burnaby schools and seniors’ homes

This week, Burnaby City Council had a full agenda with topics ranging from climate change, sidewalks, new housing developments and recent developments in Canada’s relations with the US. Here are some of the highlights. 

Sidewalks, schools, and seniors

In the meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25, Burnaby City Council approved a plan to build new sidewalks, particularly in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic and where vulnerable pedestrians reside or use the road often. 

The proposal first came to council last November during its meeting on Nov. 4. In that meeting, council members discussed the feasibility of the New Sidewalks Program and feedback to staff. 

The New Sidewalks Program came back to council this week and was met with enthusiastic approval from council members. 

“​​At the Council meeting on Nov. 4, 2024, council provided comments and questions on the New Sidewalk Program. Staff have conducted a thorough review of the New Sidewalks Program and refined the technical prioritization framework approach. Following the framework refinement, staff have identified and confirmed through site visits the top 10 priority sidewalk projects for implementation,” said a staff report submitted to council on Feb. 25. 

According to the report, the program will prioritize sidewalks close to elementary and secondary schools, seniors’ facilities, daycares, and transit facilities, among others. The report identified 10 priority locations for sidewalks and the total linear length of the sidewalk in kilometres.  

1. Irmin Street/Nelson Elementary and Lyndhurst Elementary—2.1 kilometres 

2. Carleton-Madison-Triumph—3.7 kilometres 

3. Clinton Elementary—2 kilometres

4. Burnaby North Secondary—2 kilometres 

5. Edmonds and John Knox Christian Elementary—2.1 kilometres 

6. Marlborough Elementary—2 kilometres 

7. South Slope Elementary—2 kilometres 

8. Kitchener Elementary—2 kilometres 

9. Harwood Park—2.1 kilometres 

10. Capitol Hill, Morley, and Armstrong Elementary—2 kilometres

“That, to me, is an alarming amount of area without sidewalks in the city, and that shows you how important it is that we have sidewalks as a priority and have this prioritization framework,” said Coun. Daniel Tetrault. “We, for too long, were not investing in this important infrastructure, and the more time we wait, the more expensive it gets, and the more issues we’ll deal with. So I’m glad we have these 10 priorities, but I would like to advance them sooner than later.”

The report mentioned that public consultation is ongoing with communities and stakeholders who frequent the area or are expected to utilize the sidewalks the most. 

Climate and youth

Climate and youth issues made an appearance at Burnaby City Council’s Feb. 25 meeting, which started with a delegation from the Youth Climate Corps BC (YCCBC). The delegates were looking to partner with the city to develop programming and identify additional funding sources for their activities in Burnaby. 

The YCCBC is an “employment service program that builds on youth leadership to foster climate resilience and a livable low carbon future while paying young people a living wage,” in the words of delegation speaker, Samantha Kutyaurigo. 

“Youth unemployment, already double the provincial average, has gone up by 4.8% in just the last year,” Kutyaurigo said at the meeting. “Youth have contributed the least to the climate crisis but will suffer the most throughout their lives. Despite these unsettling projections, we envision a future that uplifts communities disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and excluded from the benefits of the fossil fuel economy.”

Council referred the request to staff to identify ways for the city to work with the YCCBC. 

City stops non-essential work travel to the US 

Canadian-US relations came up again during the council meeting, this time regarding travel to the US.

“I think it should be pretty obvious to all who are watching any kind of news that obviously the president of the United States and his administration have made Canada a very unfavourable place in their minds, and I’m going to try and be nice as possible about it, but I think it’s time for us to join in the Canada movement fully,” said Mayor Mike Hurley. ”We have many friends in the United States, we’ll be back there, I’m sure, when this term for this president comes to an end.” 

Coun. Sav Dhaliwal called for a complete boycott of US goods, services, and non-essential travel, saying that Canadians do not appreciate the bullying. 

“This is a conflict that all of us should be really paying attention to, not just the city staff. I would encourage all the listeners and people in Burnaby, the region, and the country to avoid unnecessary travel to the US,” Dhaliwal said. “Don’t buy American products if you really can manage it. I know not everything we can do, but if all 40 million of us did that, I think that will speak more than any government can.” 

Earlier this month, council held a special meeting during which council members discussed changing the city’s procurement processes to purchase primarily Canadian products and avoid US products. The mayor also urged Burnaby residents to buy Canadian products to support Canadian businesses and boycott US products. 

“I support this motion as well, and I would like to have the report back from the staff sooner to see how much procurement we have done. We understand the City of Surrey’s contracts are actually 99% Canadian and only 0.58% American,” said Coun. Richard Lee. 

Raising awareness about accessibility 

Three agenda items from the city’s Access Advisory Committee appeared on the Feb. 25 meeting agenda. All three items aim to raise awareness about the obstacles people with disabilities face and the limits of accessibility. 

The first of the three items is organizing a special film screening in Burnaby of a documentary titled disABLEd. 

disABLEd is a documentary that is funded by the Telus Story Hive and with the support of PM Media House, and it's a film about refining disability through art and storytelling,” Coun. Maita Santiago said during the Access Advisory Committee meeting on Feb. 5. 

The documentary follows the lives of Lionel Migrino and Sarah Harrower in Calgary, Alta., who have physical and cognitive disabilities. The film was produced and directed by Paolo Oliveros and filmed and edited by Jomarie Anza. It was produced with support from the Alberta Film Commission. 

“The narrative of everybody in the film is unfolded, and it's a story about strength, resilience, and it gives a unique window into the personal world of disability in Calgary, but this film is going to be screened in other cities across the country, and I do know it's also coming to Vancouver in April, but we have a motion for staff to direct staff to look at the possibility of holding a screening for the film, for this documentary, either here at City Hall or another suitable venue,” Santiago said. 

Members of the Access Advisory Committee recommended using the film screening as an opportunity to raise awareness about the committee’s work and the city’s online feedback form where Burnaby residents can report accessibility issues. 

“This might be a good opportunity for us to create awareness about the accessibility committee as a presentation to the public, and at the same time, the highlight will be the showing of the film,” said resident representative Mario Gregorio. 

The second item at the Feb. 25 meeting was the suggestion to organize a visit for council members to L’Arche Greater Vancouver, a housing facility located at 7415 Sussex Ave., Burnaby, to learn more about the facility and its accessibility standards.

“L’Arche is an organization that opened up last year, brand new inclusive housing, and is described in local papers as a dream home in Burnaby,” Santiago said. “It has 29 affordable housing units for individuals, couples and families who wish to live in an intentional community, and it's located on Sussex Avenue in South Burnaby. So they've invited our committee to come to their facility to learn more about both their organization as well as the work that they are doing there.” 

Finally, the city is exploring other ways to promote its accessibility form, where members of the community can submit information about any barriers, obstacles or accessibility issues they face daily.

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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