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Green Legacy

Thirty years after her speech at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (a viral hit before viral hits existed), Severn CullisSuzuki has taken the helm at the David Suzuki Foundation.

Green Power

For almost a decade and a half, Severn CullisSuzuki lived on Haida Gwaii. Now she’s back, and ready to fight.

by Nathan Caddell

Big Plans

Larry Beasley helped create the Building Community Society to address housing issues in the Downtown Eastside.

severn Cullis-suzuki saw her bat signal in the air and knew it was time to come home.

The former Vancouverite and her husband, Haida member Judson Brown, had spent 14 years raising their two children on the remote archipelago that is Haida Gwaii when she saw smoke from the California and Alaska wildfires billowing through the air in the summer of 2020. Some signs are just too literal to ignore, it seems.

She decided then that, after working for nearly a decade and a half to help restore the Haida language, she had to return to the city and make her mark in the fight against climate change.

“It was kind of like a wakeup call, a reminder,” Cullis-Suzuki remembers. “I hadn’t forgotten, but it was a real slap in the face that climate change is coming and that it’s going to affect everywhere on this planet. So I had this real feeling of, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to get back in the fight.’”

Not long after the smoke appeared on the island, Stephen Cornish, then CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation, stepped down to take the position of general director of the Doctors Without Borders operational centre in Geneva, Switzerland. CullisSuzuki, daughter of the eponymous David and a graduate of both Yale (bachelor of science and evolutionary biology) and the University of Victoria (ethnoecology), emerged as a natural frontrunner for the same position with a new title—executive director.

To avoid any charges of nepotism, her parents were recused from the process. (Suzuki’s mother, renowned author Tara Cullis, is a board member and co-founder of the foundation and her father is still very involved.) Cullis-Suzuki herself rejects the idea that the organization lured her from the island with the position, and insists that she feels grateful and lucky to have been appointed. But in talking with board chair Margot Young, another narrative emerges.

“She’s just an amazingly inspiring person—so talented,” says Young, who serves as a professor in the Allard School of Law at UBC. “The whole board feels fortunate to have been able to persuade her to take up the executive directorship. It’s a very exciting era with her at the helm.”

Not exactly Succession. But whenever you share a last name with the organization you work for, it’s easy to question the validity of such a high-profile appointment. Young is steadfast in her belief that CullisSuzuki, even after taking 14 years away from the environmental justice beat, was and is the right choice to lead the DSF into the future.

“She brings a long history of activism on environmental justice,” says Young. “And a clear track record of commitment and impressive insight into what the issues are, and how we can work collectively toward solutions to the issues around environmental degradation, environmental justice and the other aspects that put us at this critical moment of climate crisis.”

In some ways, the designation has been a long time coming. It was 30 years ago that a 12-year-old CullisSuzuki stepped onto the stage at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and delivered a speech that became a viral hit before viral hits existed. Earlier this year, Only a Child, a short film directed by Simone Giampaolo based on the speech, was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Among that speech’s about politics and things that are working and aren’t working. For us, that’s like a Friday night out.”

These days, Cullis-Suzuki is doing far more than talk. She’s the executive director of an 86-person organization that has three offices across the country and a strong voice to the powers that be. “A big part of what DSF does is analysis and figuring out what the policies are that would be effective in making a dent in pollution in Canada,” she says. “What are those systemic changes we need to see? And then lobbying for

She brings a long history of activism on environmental justice. And a clear track record of commitment and impressive insight into what the issues are, and how we can work collectively toward solutions to the issues around environmental degradation, environmental justice and the other aspects that put us at this critical moment of climate crisis.”

margot young, professor at the allard school of law at ubc

many memorable lines is this doozy: “If you don’t know how to fix it, please, stop breaking it.”

About 10 years after that speech, Cullis-Suzuki met Ginger GosnellMyers at an Action Canada Fellowship public policy program for emerging young leaders. They became lifelong friends. “Sev is really curious about how you’re doing, both personally and with managing the stresses of work and family. It’s a really holistic friendship, for lack of a better word,” says Gosnell-Myers, a fellow at SFU’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.

“I find that our conversations and time together are always about striking that balance and having fun. Fun for us is talking about what you learned, talking about your perspectives on the issues. We’ll talk those changes to be seen through our representatives in office.”

But there’s also the grassroots battle, and she hasn’t turned her back to that either. “We need the mobilization and public engagement—getting people to feel like they have tools to organize,” she says, referencing the foundation’s Future Ground Network project, which acts as a hub for those who are interested in organizing something in their community but don’t necessarily know how. “We can’t just focus on politicians. We need the public in the streets to back up the arguments and push political leaders to actually do something.”

Asked how the average Canadian can contribute right now, CullisSuzuki gives an answer that a lot of

people might not want to hear: “One really easy thing we can do is we can cut down on our meat consumption. North Americans eat a lot more meat per capita than pretty much anywhere else on the planet.” Fair enough—scientists have estimated that the livestock sector is responsible for about 18 percent of total humancaused greenhouse gas emissions.

But she also acknowledges that expecting everyone to focus on the long-term is a pipe dream. “We need systems to change, because we can’t wait for all the individuals to change their habits,” she says—and if she feels any frustration over that barrier, it is belied by the warmth that wafts out through the Zoom screen, and by her smile, which, when it appears, seems wider than False Creek. “It’s so hard in so many cases. Right now, the paths of least resistance are the destructive options. When I had children, I realized that I had to take care of them, deal with diapers, food, everything, and if you shop like a responsible consumer, things are more expensive. It’s so hard for an individual to make all those decisions all the time.”

But in case you thought you were off the hook, not so fast. Cullis-Suzuki argues that everyone has to consider how they can make an impact. “We all have to think about our positionality. How can we affect change? Are there others that think like me? Can I organize with my workmates to de-carbonize the office? These are the kinds of things we have to start doing if we’re going to have a chance of hitting the de-carbonizing numbers we need to.”

One gets the sense that she’s not blowing smoke.

We need the mobilization and public engagement—getting people to feel like they have tools to organize. We can’t just focus on politicians. We need the public in the streets to back up the arguments and push political leaders to actually do something.”

severn cullis-suzuki, executive director at the david suzuki foundation

SUGGESTION BOX

MARIANNE AMODIO Founder of MA+HG Architects Inc.

What’s one thing you’d change about Vancouver?

I would change the zoning in our single-family and two-family neighbourhoods across all areas of the city to include row houses, stacked townhouses and some commercial uses, such as retail and artist studios.

The inclusion of Missing Middle housing typologies would let us return to our history, which allowed for a greater diversity of housing choices. It represents a simple action that responds directly to issues of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Reviving neighbourhood grocery stores and other small retail businesses and artist’s studios in the heart of single- and two-family residential zones would support neighbourhood micro-economies and community building. Who doesn’t love getting a coffee at Le Marché St. George or the Mighty Oak? Embracing these changes would improve the livability, vibrancy and resiliency of our communities. These types of housing lend themselves to innovative, interesting and creative architectural designs that would create diverse and finegrained streetscapes.

Luxury redefined

faithwilson | Christie’s International Real Estate have a finger on the pulse of what luxury means to Vancouverites in a post-pandemic world

We may be on the better side of the pandemic, but there is no question that it’s effects will linger. In the real estate industry, it has shifted people’s priorities and redefined the concept of luxury for the better.

“As our sense of wellness and home evolve, our perspective on what qualifies as luxury has changed,” says Faith Wilson, Realtor with faithwilson | Christie’s International Real Estate, a luxury-focused real estate brokerage offering a modern brand and online experience backed by more than 250 years of luxury experience. “The consumer is taking the lead on what they now require in a luxury home and articulating and actualizing those needs.”

This change in the psyche of the luxury market has ignited emerging amenity trends in Vancouver that look at all aspects of luxury lifestyle and experience, including access to nature, places in the home dedicated to wellness, and security.

“The pandemic gave us pause and focused our attention on what is most important: being safe and staying connected to family and friends,” Wilson says. “It has driven this change toward health and wellness, the environment, sustainability in our consumerism and what people actually need to be happy. These trends will continue as businesses open up and we are able to travel with more ease in the near future.”

Another way to look at it is, less is more. Home buyers are seeking uncluttered, aesthetically pleasing spaces that promote good energy. This will also play out in how the architecture relates to the landscape and in the materials used to build the structure, while integrating water, indigenous plants and esthetically pleasing and calming spaces in the home and on the property.

“Locally sourced materials, energy efficiency, smart home tech, green roofs and walls, vegetable gardens and fruit trees—these are all coming together to create a calm, beautiful aesthetic,” Wilson says. “It would be fair to say that homebuyers are looking for a holistic approach and aesthetic in their new homes. Dedicated spaces for wellness, yoga, massage, saunas, gyms or pools are important. Being connected to nature will become more and more important. And knowing family is safe means having good security—that is always a must.”

As buyers re-evaluate their lifestyle and living spaces with the ability to work remotely, more Vancouverites have also been moving to the Okanagan Valley, where fw has successfully expanded with top real estate agents in Kelowna, Osoyoos and Penticton.

As the Valley’s real estate market matures and evolves, fw will play a key role in the luxury real estate market in the region, with a new Kelowna HQ to open in early 2022.

Learn more at faithwilson.com

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