I center my decision-making around the social and environmental determinants of health, working collaboratively with my colleagues and community to find evidence-based solutions that improve community well-being for all.
This is a page from the 2022 BC Local General Elections.
Over the last four years, I’ve accomplished my goal of bringing my core values - affordable housing, climate change leadership, and well-being for everyone - to the council table.
I have worked with my colleagues and the community to lay the foundations for a healthy community - setting minimum affordable housing standards, helping establish a rent-bank, and enhancing climate and environmental protections throughout the community, not to mention pushing to ensure the highest possible environmental standards, economic development opportunities, and community value out of developments while respecting the character of the community. I've worked with councillors across BC to make meaningful change, as we face challenges we have never faced before.
But now, more than ever, we need to come together. Our community is facing multiple urgent crises - the housing crisis, the climate crisis, and overlapping health challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. The pandemic has shown us that we are facing a crisis of social isolation, which makes our children and seniors vulnerable to mental health challenges. We know more people than ever have to move away from their support networks and families. We have collectively experienced the heat dome and storms of 2021.
This municipal election is a key moment to decide: what is the Port Moody that we want? We can build community and provide programming to support those facing mental health challenges and social isolation. We can create policies to protect renters, to ensure people's pets can stay with them if they move, and to help people find homes. We can come together to ensure we have parks, greenspace, and infrastructure that protect us from climate impacts. We can prioritize taking care of each other.
I’m seeking re-election because I’m ready to keep working collaboratively on these issues. My track record speaks for itself: I get results, I fight for what I believe in, and I bring a nuanced, thoughtful perspective to council.
Biography
submitted by the candidate or their team
A nationally recognized expert in climate change and health, Amy Lubik is passionate about community well-being, believing that “politics is healthcare on a grand scale.” Amy is deeply involved in her community, volunteering widely and serving on many city committees.
Elected to Port Moody Council in 2018, Amy believes that “politics is healthcare on a grand scale.” During her career she has moved from being an award winning cancer researcher, specializing in hormones and bone metastasis, to an environmental health scientist at the BC Centre for Disease Control, to a nationally recognized expert in climate change and health as a public health policy analyst at Fraser Health Authority.
Each career transition has been guided by the desire to make changes to public health policy and support the creation of communities where everyone has access to the things that contribute most to our health: a healthy and resilient environment, a connected community where everyone is included, programs that support and celebrate diversity, and access to housing. She has authored papers on how cities can be more resilient to climate change and how they can promote community connectedness; she has also been grateful to use these skills on behalf of Port Moody.
Amy is deeply entrenched in the volunteer communities of the Tri-Cities and across BC. As a health and equity advocate, Amy has volunteered for the Public Health Association of BC, guiding the development of submissions to the federal and provincial poverty reduction strategies. She also writes articles and provides feedback for the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. During the Syrian refugee crisis she was a cofounder of the Tri-Cities Refugee Welcome Wagon. She also helped found Coalition for a Healthy Riverview, helping to keep Riverview in public hands and dedicated to mental health services. She also led a provincial call to recognize internationally trained medical professionals to support our communities during the COVID-19 pandemic - a cause she continues to advocate for to support community needs.
She has been a volunteer for Force of Nature Alliance and Leadnow, empowering the community and organizing the public around environmental, health and electoral issues. She is a passionate volunteer for Amnesty International, most recently on the issue of sanctuary schools.
During her time on council, Amy has enjoyed chairing the environmental protection committee, the climate action committee, the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the Tri-Cities Food Council. She has also been the vice-chair of the Seniors’ Focus Committee for four years, served on the age-friendly city steering committee, and helped develop an extreme weather strategy for people experiencing homelessness as a member of the Tri-Cities Homelessness and Housing Task Force. She has also chaired the Tri-Cities Healthy Community Partnership. Additionally, she has served two terms as a member at large for the Union of BC Municipalities (2020-2022) to push for environmental protections, community health, and financial reforms for cities.
Zealous about the arts, Amy believes that music and arts brings people together and fosters understanding. Prior to the pandemic, Amy could sometimes be found performing music at local festivals.
She has been supportive of the city providing spaces and supports for arts performances, including fundraisers for local and international charities. Amy believes in putting in place policies and programs that allow the arts community to thrive, including making arts programing accessible to youth and community members. In 2019, she began advocating to the province for changes to the commercial property tax classifications to be able to provide lower taxation rates to arts, heritage, and social support related businesses, a program other provinces have already pioneered. She has also advocated for the integration of cultural diversity into the Arts and Culture Master Plan. She is particularly grateful for the House Post Project which will install five posts representing Nations whose territories Port Moody is on, carved by Indigenous artists; completion is scheduled for 2023.
Amy has long been a renter, but she, her partner, and her cat, Orange George, are excited to be moving to their forever home on Electronic Avenue soon.
Reason for running
submitted by the candidate or their team
I am running again to continue to advocate around affordable housing, the environment, and community well-being, and because I believe Port Moody needs a strong public health voice on council.
I want to continue to help centre our decision making on the social determinants of health; city council decisions on housing, a healthy environment, community connectedness, access to services and reconciliation have an enormous impact on the health and wellbeing of our residents. We have been able to move forward on many of these issues together, but there is still much to do. I will be listening to residents and looking for novel, evidence-informed ideas of collaborative solutions that fit our community.
amylubik.com www.amylubik.com