North Vancouver council hopefuls pitch tree protection at all-candidates meeting

Seventeen council candidates for the City of North Vancouver outlined competing approaches to urban tree protection at an all-candidates meeting Saturday night hosted by ICANDO Education, a North Vancouver-based non-profit focused on childhood education. The Royal Canadian Legion was packed despite the Thanksgiving weekend.

The tree question drew the most detailed proposals. Max Lai suggested using the 3-30-300 rule, which calls for seeing three trees near your home, a neighbourhood that has at least 30 per cent tree canopy cover, and living less than 300 metres from a green space. "What we should add more to that is consistent and sustainable bylaws and also sustainable advocacy where we see where we're keeping that canopy growing and not just doing the bare minimum," Lai said.

Jeremy Cato also voiced support for the 3-30-300 rule but proposed pushing further—increasing the city's 2055 canopy cover target from 24 per cent to 30 per cent. He also advocated for converting city-owned land on East 1st Street near Lonsdale into a permanent public park. "When you cut down a mature tree, it takes 30 years to replace that tree with a tree that provides the same kind of green canopy, so we need to be very careful as we grow our city," Cato said.

Andrew Robinson pitched density bonuses from mature tree retention, arguing they would incentivize developers to plan around trees from the start. Anna Boltenko proposed strengthening protection for mature trees, establishing neighbourhood canopy targets, and producing public reports on progress. "Trees, especially mature trees, they are not just decorations. They are infrastructure that pulls our streets together, absorbs stormwater, cleans air and provides habitats," Boltenko said. "Retention must be a first consideration rather than the last."

Incumbent Tony Valente said the city is growing the urban forest canopy on public lands but needs to look at tree retention on private land through incentives. Lailani Tumaneng urged reviewing tree policies, saying "sustainability needs to be the No. 1 priority."