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Gwen Giesbrecht
Climate Change, Heat, Fires, & the Environment
Climate Adaptation
COPE promise
"Accelerate Vancouver’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy into a full Climate Defence Strategy that:
• Gets more with less by investing in tool libraries, circular economy initatives, and zero-waste programs.
• Upgrades our public infrastructure and housing to protect our city and save lives during future climate events.
• Protects our food system from climate shocks by investing in local food production and creating systems to crack down on food waste.
• Help communities prepare for climate events and disasters, whether it’s heat waves, snow storms, or atmospheric rivers."
— Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
COPE promises
"Bring back Vancouver’s slashed climate programs. Ken Sim and ABC have reversed the city’s progress on climate change, cut the sustainability department, put the 2026-2030 climate plan on hold, and cut climate safety programs. We’ll make Vancouver a climate leader." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Get Vancouver back on track to meet the 6 climate action targets we’re currently failing including walkable neighbourhoods, active transportation and transit, zero-emission vehicles, zero-emission space and water heating, low carbon materials and construction, and restored coasts and forests." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Lead the country on climate change, meeting and exceeding IPCC climate targets, and using the city of Vancouver as a bully pulpit to push for climate justice provincially, federally, and globally." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Support Wind, Water, Solar energy for Vancouver by encouraging renewable energy production across the city, coordinating climate-conscious energy upgrades at neighbourhood scale, and shifting from a passive consumer of provincial energy towards a community-led and worker-owned green energy grid." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Hold the super-rich accountable for climate change by re-joining the “Sue Big Oil” lawsuit and force big polluters to pay their fair share for the climate crisis they caused." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Oppose the dredging of the Burrard Inlet, and fight fossil fuel infrastructure and tankers in Vancouver’s waterways." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Honour Indigenous rights, knowledge, and voices on climate. Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall coined the concept “twoeyed seeing” as a way to integrate the best insights from both western and indigenous traditions in pursuit of justice and sustainability." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Urban Heat
COPE promise
"Grow the urban forest canopy to 30% by 2050 with a priority for climate-resilient native species."
Walking & Cycling
COPE promises
"Invest in affordable and reliable public transit infrastructure, active transportation, and cycling infrastructure to get drivers out of polluting cars and meet our climate goals." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Giving funding and space to community bike repair and recycling initiatives to make it easy to access affordable bikes." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Expand bikesharing, scooters, and micro- mobility to give people transportation options, and bring them under public community control and ownership." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Push to integrate the Compass Card system with micro-mobility as part of a path to a unified public transit system." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Connecting active transportation networks and micro-mobility to all community centres and public recreation facilities." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Culture & Events
Cultural Spaces & Venues
COPE promises
"Reduce speculative pressure on artist spaces and protect Vancouver’s arts through a Cultural Land Trust." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"A Vancouver Arts and Cultural Spaces Strategy that leverages city-owned land for galleries, venues, theatres, and rehearsal spaces, and encourages the use of vacant commercial spaces for performance and arts." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Boost operating grants for Vancouver’s arts sector, and then tie them to inflation. Explore the creation of a municipal arts endowment, or a dedicated tax revenue stream, for long-term stability in arts funding." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Boost operating grants for Vancouver’s arts sector, and then tie them to inflation. Explore the creation of a municipal arts endowment, or a dedicated tax revenue stream, for long-term stability in arts funding." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"End the crackdown on DIY arts venues, and encourage and support independent artist-run nightlife as part of Vancouver’s cultural scene." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Levy an empty business tax for industrial and commercial spaces, with a program to encourage the use of vacant spaces for performance and art spaces." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Bring art and music into public spaces by expanding access to covered bandstands, encourage street-corner performers, and support free and low-cost festivals." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Support the needs of our museums, galleries, civic theatres, and cultural amenities, and offer free access through the Public Library or Leisure Access Pass." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Protect the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee and work with them to advance the arts in Vancouver. We will work to distribute power to the people." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Place Names & Commemorations
COPE promises
Human Rights
Disabilities
COPE promise
"Apply a disability justice lens to city policies, systems, services, funding, and structures to make Vancouver a welcoming place for people with disabilities." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Human Rights Abroad
COPE promise
"Make Vancouver an Apartheid-Free Community and join Burnaby in signing on to the Apartheid-Free Communities pledge." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Local Government, Planning, & Democracy
Budgeting
COPE promise
"Advance an emergency transitional budget to stop and reverse direction. COPE will take action right away to reverse changes made at the City by Ken Sim and ABC." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Elections & Voting
COPE promises
"Establish a “Democracy Dollars” program to even the playing field and allow poor and middle-income people to have a bigger influence on politics, inspired by a similar program in Seattle, WA. Residents can request a $25 voucher to donate to local political parties or candidates from public funds, and counter the disproportionate power of the super-rich." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Make it easier to vote by making public transit free on election days, and ensure there are sufficient polling stations, including mobile voting stations, and accessibility options for seniors and people with disabilities." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"A ranked ballot for Mayor, starting in 2030. During negotiations between progressive parties around the mayoral race, COPE secured a commitment from all progressive parties to fight for a ranked choice ballot for Mayor, like in New York and San Francisco. We’ll push the provincial government to give cities full control over our own electoral systems." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Fight for proportional representation, ranked ballots, and wards. We need an electoral system that balances regional representation, proportionality, and voter expression. COPE members have endorsed the model used in Portland, OR with multi-member wards in a proportional representation system." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"A citizens assembly on electoral reform. Ultimately, residents should have the final say in our electoral system, not just political parties. We’ll convene a citizens assembly to produce a model for Vancouver that achieves our goal of fair elections." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Expand the right to vote for all residents, but end non-resident voting. In Vancouver, property owners who don’t live here can vote in our elections. But Permanent Residents can’t. We’ll change that, and expand voting rights to everyone above the age of 16." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Good Governance
COPE promises
"Identify and report on what happened and why under Ken Sim’s tenure, and who bore the consequences for the decisions made." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Interview workers, residents, and stakeholders and review records to identify how and why major decisions against the public interest were made at the city, including the layoffs of hundreds of staff, the replacement of the city manager, and the rollback of affordable housing requirements and development fees." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Improve transparency and expose the problems at the city with a worker-led audit, interviewing current and past city workers, city partners, and the public to improve service delivery and cut waste." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Fight waste and bureaucratic absurdities from Ken Sim’s mismanagement. If there’s wasted money at the City on management bloat, consultants, and outsourcing, strange bureaucratic loops, and duplication of work, the frontline workers know it best." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Identify why progress towards city goals of affordability, families, renters, and climate has stalled or reversed under Ken Sim, and get back on course. The city is failing to meet its targets on affordable housing, homelessness, transportation, and climate under Ken Sim. Vancouver’s Healthy City strategy was abandoned without reporting back on how Sim failed. We need to review why these areas are being neglected, and change priorities to get back on target." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Fix the ways that the bureaucracy is broken, by reviewing service and systems performance, patron experience, staff climate, and bringing more voices to the table to transform the City." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Appoint a team to deliver an Affordability Audit for Vancouver, that outlines the places where people’s cost of living is growing, and where the city can use its power to lower costs, and to set new targets and a path to a more affordable city." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Identify and crack down on violations of public trust. Where improper conduct against the public interest is found to have potentially occurred, the city must take definitive action to restore trust, using an empowered integrity commissioner, and if necessary, an investigation." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Empower the Integrity Commissioner to hold politicians accountable, and update the city code of conduct to prioritize breaches of public trust. The integrity commissioner found Sim and ABC councillors broke the code of conduct by coordinating amendment wording and expected votes in private group chats before public meetings. When a separate investigation found Sim misused his office to “objectively harass” Councillor Orr, ABC voted down any accountability for his conduct." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Enhance the independence of the Auditor General, and give them the resources they need to conduct the investigations that are needed. The Auditor General does great and important work, but they are accountable to city council." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Implement the Auditor General’s 10 Recommendations in their 2026 Land Sales Audit to prevent botched land deals that cost the city millions. Ken Sim and ABC received this shocking report outlining $60 million+ in lost revenues and chose not to act. We will." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Ban the revolving door between industry and government. COPE will implement mandatory cooling off periods between appointments in city government, and work in private sector industries that lobby the city." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Bring in a municipal lobbying registry. The public deserves to know how and when the super-rich are influencing decisions made by city governments. The city can take steps on its own, but we’ll fight to strengthen city authority and make sure toxic influence can’t hide from public oversight." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Fight for transparency and accountability at the Vancouver School Board (VSB) by promoting engagement with parents, students, unions, employees and the broader community in VSB decision making through:
• Open, moderated live-streamed, meetings which allow for public questions.
• Town halls, brainstorming sessions, and participatory budget processes."
— Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Transparent and ongoing oversight of the Superintendent as the sole employee of the trustees." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Conducting regular reviews of governance and operational policies to promote the empowerment of elected trustees to make decisions on improving public education." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Fewer private board meetings." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Oppose privatization and public-private-partnerships (PPPs), and work to bring city contractors in as unionized city employees." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Government Procurement
COPE promise
"Introduce a Buy Vancouver policy to encourage and promote the development of sustainable circular economic systems in Vancouver and the lower mainland, prioritize local producers for city procurement, build resilience against US tariffs and create jobs." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Mental Health, Drugs, & Addiction
Mental Health Crisis Response
COPE promises
"Support infrastructure to reduce the risk of suicide, like barriers on bridges and high-risk areas, and programs to intervene and support people in crisis." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Remove mental health calls from VPD priorities, and distribute funding toward community safety programs for acute mental health crises like peer-assisted care teams (PACTs). We can reduce costs and free up funds for vital public service by providing alternatives to police as first responders." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Address mental health and addictions by expanding access to voluntary and compassionate treatment, frontline services, and fighting against stigma for drug use and poverty." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Mental Health in Schools
COPE promise
"Put student safety and well-being first by funding school mental health councillors instead of school liaison officers." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Public Safety & Policing
Intimate Partner Violence
COPE promise
"Stop intimate partner violence in Vancouver by Implementing the five calls to action for municipalities of the Battered Women Support Services (BWSS), including an Intimate Partner Violence task force, supporting community-based victim services and transition houses, and strengthing (sic) local data collection on intimate partner violence." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Police in Schools
Gwen Giesbrecht's promise
This controversial direction has resulted in some very troubling situations for some students. The ongoing presence of officers in schools can be triggering and disruptive for some students. COPE would prefer to see school based professionals trained in working with youth , especially in the areas of mental health, safety and security, and school and career path choices. We believe that funding for ongoing relationship building teachers and staff is a better way to create safe school environments.
COPE promise
"Put student safety and well-being first by funding school mental health councillors instead of school liaison officers." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Reconciliation & Indigenous Nations
Indigenous Schooling
Gwen Giesbrecht's promise
There is a gap in the measures taken in all Vancouver schools to insure that every student that is Indigenous, either being part of one of the three host Nations, or part of the Urban Indigenous population sees themselves reflected in the teachings of the classroom. An awareness of the importance of their identity as the stewards and occupants of the land we must be conveyed to every student. Indigenous leaders, elders and educators are the ones best positioned to provide the necessary teachings and every consultative effort must be undertaken to bring their voices into the classroom.
COPE promise
Land Title & Governance
COPE promise
Place Names & Commemorations
COPE promises
Schools & Public Education
After-School Programs
COPE promise
Artificial Intelligence in Schools
Gwen Giesbrecht's promises
There is growing concern globally on the impact of technology on teaching and learning. It is past time that the VSB undertakes a comprehensive assessment of these tools to gauge their use in the following areas:
Student privacy and safety
How technology may be impacting learning in the areas of literacy, language development, critical thinking, social/ emotional intelligence, mental health and social connectivity.
COPE promises
"Pause the rollout of AI Large Language Models (LLMs) in Vancouver Schools, and engage and consult with parents and stakeholders to implement a technology audit to create protocols and guidelines to address the following risks:
• Safety and privacy for students.
• Impact of AI usage on learning outcomes and mental health.
• Transparent and robust consultation with stakeholders and community on AI usage and adoption in schools.
• Impact on climate and the environment of AI usage and adoption
• Lack of student and staff AI usage policies and procedures
• Impact on the use of and validity of results when AI is used for public engagement and consultation."
— Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Bullying & Bigotry
Gwen Giesbrecht's promises
By adopting the recommendations from the BC Human Rights Commission to respond to and eliminate racism in schools, COPE will work to keep racism out of the school.
COPE will maintain Sexual and Gender Identity education and resources in schools and support educators to teach about complex and sometimes controversial topics including but not limited to:
The history and impact of colonialism and residential schools.
The Trans- Atlantic slave trade, anti-Black racism, and the struggle for freedom and equality made by the People of African descent.
The history of Palestine, the current reality there and any local or global conflict where there exist racist overtones that have impact on the racial and cultural diversity in Vancouver schools and where there are multiple and differing perspectives.
COPE promises
Childcare
COPE promises
"Fight for and fund an expansion of public childcare spaces. Negotiate with developers, provide public land, and seek funding from senior governments to secure at least 2,200 new public childcare spaces by 2030." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Establish drop-in spaces at community centres and schools so parents can access affordable, safe, and reliable childcare in public spaces." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Accelerate before-and-after school childcare spaces at elementary schools across the city." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Track and report on childcare spaces, bothprivate and public, to ensure that we’re meeting our targets and producing the childcare we need." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Indigenous Schooling
Gwen Giesbrecht's promise
There is a gap in the measures taken in all Vancouver schools to insure that every student that is Indigenous, either being part of one of the three host Nations, or part of the Urban Indigenous population sees themselves reflected in the teachings of the classroom. An awareness of the importance of their identity as the stewards and occupants of the land we must be conveyed to every student. Indigenous leaders, elders and educators are the ones best positioned to provide the necessary teachings and every consultative effort must be undertaken to bring their voices into the classroom.
COPE promise
Mental Health in Schools
COPE promise
"Put student safety and well-being first by funding school mental health councillors instead of school liaison officers." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Neurodivergent Students & Support
Gwen Giesbrecht's promise
We have been talking about special learners and what the classroom needs to support them for a long time. Rather than pulling back on those supports and programs designed to create full inclusion for all students we need to see the funding put in place that means that every student has an education plan that best suits how they learn. The differences become more complex all the time. We continue to learn more all the time on how to identify those complexities, and strategies that work for engagement. Unfortunately these strategies need funding to implement, and that's where we've fallen behind. COPE will strive toward getting the funding in place to implement the programs and supports to create public education that has a place for every student to learn in.
COPE promises
"Align special education funding with identified special education needs, including per-student funding for students with learning disabilities and those who need moderate behavioral support." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Police in Schools
Gwen Giesbrecht's promise
This controversial direction has resulted in some very troubling situations for some students. The ongoing presence of officers in schools can be triggering and disruptive for some students. COPE would prefer to see school based professionals trained in working with youth , especially in the areas of mental health, safety and security, and school and career path choices. We believe that funding for ongoing relationship building teachers and staff is a better way to create safe school environments.
COPE promise
"Put student safety and well-being first by funding school mental health councillors instead of school liaison officers." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
School Buildings & New Schools
COPE promises
"Treat school properties as public lands, protect them, and use them for public benefit, instead of selling them off to make up for budget shortfalls." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
School Nutrition
COPE promise
"Ensure no child is hungry with a universal breakfast and lunch program at Vancouver School Board." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
School Programmes
COPE promises
"Reverse ABC and Vancouver Liberal cuts to programs that provide support to vulnerable students like the safe and caring schools program and the Britannia hockey academy." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Support arts and recreation programming for students at VSB, including music and band programming, sports and recreation, theatre, and extracurricular activities that allow students to develop skills and express themselves." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
"Push the province for more public school funding, to reduce class sizes, and support tuition-free adult basic education (ABE) programs." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Traffic Safety Around Schools
COPE promise
Everything else
Circular Economy
COPE promise
"Support circular economy initiatives and aggressively move towards a zero-waste economy, supporting programs like tool libraries, community repair programs, free stores, and programs like FreeGeek that repair electronics and recirculate them." — Fight for Vancouver, retrieved 2026-10-15
Biography
My name is Gwen Giesbrecht, and I was born and raised in the beautiful and unceded territories of the Indigenous people of what we now call British Columbia. I thank those people and am grateful for the opportunity I have been given to live here.
I have lived, worked and recreated in Grandview-Woodland since 1989 where my son attended Vancouver schools.
I became involved in community work as a volunteer in 2003. In the years since I have been elected to and served in leadership positions with the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Committee, the Britannia Secondary Parent Advisory Committee, the Britannia Community Services Society board of management, & the Vancouver Campaign for a Living Wage Advisory Committee.
I have served one term (2018-2022) as an elected official and committee chair of the Vancouver Board of Parks & Recreation.
Promises
Reason for running
In this election I am seeking the nomination to run for School Board Trustee. My decision to return to my past experience in public education in the VSB stems from my deeply held conviction that we are still in the crisis mode that existed when I first became involved in advocacy and activism to call attention to the fundamental importance of public education in growing a society that is just, equitable and fosters a population that has every opportunity to succeed, however they define success. We have the expertise; we know what is needed. We don’t need new feasibility studies or top-heavy management. We need political will, necessary funding and action to put in the classroom the fundamental support needed, for every student.
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