CONCERNS CONNECTED
Councillor wants to address issues related to climate
As a child in Swan River, Man., Shanon Zachidniak was excited to get involved with her elementary school's Friends of the Earth Club.
Her passion for sustainability has only grown since then.
“I don't fully know where it came from,” she said of that initial interest in the environment, “but ... even before climate change was a concern for me, concern for the environment and wanting to ensure we protected the environment was always important to me.
“Now it's just become amplified with the concern for the future, for my kids, for our community, for our planet. It drives what I do; it drives how I choose to be involved and the jobs that I decide to take on and how I decide to spend my time.”
Since moving to Regina a decade ago, after completing her master's in environmental studies degree, Zachidniak has worked at co-ordinating the North Central Community Gardens. She directed REACH, a food security agency whose programming she sought to make more sustainable. She was business manager of the non-profit Wascana Solar Co- Operative, which seeks to grow solar energy usage in Regina, and is now the vice-president of its board.
In 2018, she founded the non-partisan advocacy group Envirocollective.
Now, as a new member of Regina's city council, she hopes to impact sustainability on a wider scope.
In the month leading up to the Nov. 9 municipal election, Zachidniak was a familiar face on doorsteps. She door-knocked from morning to night, meeting the people she hoped would become her constituents.
“In general, I've found talking to so many folks, I would say that I feel more hope about the amount of folks who are excited to work for positive change in the community,” said Zachidniak.
“I now have seen it firsthand, like there's a lot of people who do care ... whose values are aligned with the kind of community I'd like to see us have, and that's exciting.”
Not everyone agrees with her vision for a renewable Regina, but, Zachidniak is committed to hearing out the people who disagree and hopefully finding a common ground.
“I am not interested in arguing with folks,” said Zachidniak. She wants to build relationships and “have a conversation, where we might expand each other's perspective.”
“The more that we can understand folks who have different perspectives from us, then that's really helpful in terms of actually making positive change,” she added. “Because we certainly don't need any more divisiveness in our world; we need to find ways to come together and not just talk to folks who totally agree with us.”
Her adeptness at listening and considerate dialogue comes from having two therapists as parents, and from studying journalism at Angelo State University in west Texas. Zachidniak's family moved there when she was 12, for her parents' jobs: There was a shortage of social workers in the United States at the time.
When she returned to Canada after graduating university, Zachidniak explored the country. She has lived in big cities (including Toronto and Montreal) and small towns (including a community in Labrador with a single road as its access point).
She says she's “lucky” to have lived in so many places, and its helpful “when you're trying to consider how to make changes in a community, to have seen what other places are doing …”
Her husband, John Tzupa, is the reason Zachidniak ended up in Regina.
They met while both working for Katimavik in New Brunswick.
He grew up in Regina, and they each had job offers here. So when she finished her master's degree at York University, Regina became home.
Zachidniak said they share a passion for trying to “make a positive difference.”
“I think it's why we're married, because we both care about doing that and we support each other in that work and I think that's why we fell in love with each other.”
The chief executive officer of the provincial NDP for the past several years, Tzupa's expertise was integral to his wife's campaign. Her parents were also “huge supporters.”
Len and Louise Zachidniak followed their daughter to Regina when her first son was on his way. Wylie is now six and has a fouryear-old brother, Ivan.
Shanon Zachidniak's children are two reasons she's so concerned about climate change and the Earth's future. Thinking about the bigger picture strikes fear in her, so she tries to focus on the things she can control.
In 2018, the United Nations Inter governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a dire report, “stating that we had, at the time, the thought was 12 years to drastically reduce our emissions or ... we'd have runaway climate change, essentially,” Zachidniak recalled.
“Without really giving it a lot of thought, I just posted on Facebook thinking that maybe I could just gather some friends together and we could talk about this together … and maybe by working collectively feel a little bit better.”
The idea quickly gained traction and Envirocollective was born.
Now an incorporated non-profit organization, Envirocollective has worked with other groups, including Mother Earth Justice Advocates, the David Suzuki Foundation, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, Climate Justice Saskatoon, and Fridays For Future Regina.
Envirocollective has co-hosted the student climate strikes at the Legislative Building and has held community forums.
It has presented to city council and city committees on issues of sustainability.
It has advocated for climate policy through supporting interveners of the Saskatchewan government's carbon pricing court challenge, and distributing issue-based election lawn signs.
Zachidniak is quick to point out, Envirocollective's work is not new.
“There are lots of people who've been working on these issues for much longer, and it is important — we always want to collaborate with folks, we're not trying to replicate work that others are doing, and by working together we hope that we can have a stronger impact,” she said.
“If we're talking about climate change, this is the biggest problem that we've ever experienced as a species, I think, and so we need everyone's voices and we need everyone's efforts if we have any hope at creating a liveable future.”
Envirocollective's members come to meetings (lately via videoconference) with their own ideas. Board member Amy Snider has recently performed public art to emphasize the importance of climate action, using lawn signs to build a giant house of cards and jumping hurdles. Other members have started a climate-themed book club.
“We are able to accomplish together so much more than any one of us would be able to individually and we push ourselves beyond our comfort levels because we care so deeply about these issues,” said Zachidniak.
Tackling climate change takes grassroots efforts, individual buy-in, and legislation and policy changes from governments — which is a main reason Zachidniak wanted to join city council: “The leadership on climate and environmental issues here is happening municipally.
“We need policy, we need education, and they all need to work together.”
In 2018, the City of Regina committed to using 100-per-cent renewable energy by 2050, but the mandate was watered down in subsequent months. With community pressure, the city has been held accountable to fulfil the motion citywide, not just among city-owned facilities.
While the city's commitment to sustainability has wavered in the past, Zachidniak's never will.
“It's important for me to feel that I am being true to my values,” said Zachidniak. “I've already decided that I'm committed to following through on what my values are. And so I will not water down my vision for the city that we could have because I'm scared of ruffling feathers.
“I think we can be strong leaders and still work collaboratively and respectively with folks who don't have the same opinion as us, and we don't all have to agree on the same thing, and hopefully we can have respectful conversations but still be true to our values.”
An “equity focus” is important in all of this, so “while we're making environmental improvements, we're also making life better for folks in our community and we are also ensuring that energy workers are able to transition to other jobs if needed.”
With an equity lens, environmental sustainability doesn't have to be a divisive issue, said Zachidniak.
“You don't have to choose, `Oh, what do I care about most? Is it making sure we don't have homelessness in our community, or environmental initiatives?' We can make policy that address both of
We are able to accomplish together so much more than any one of us would be able to individually.
those topics and others as well, so that we don't have to choose. … They're all important and they're all interconnected and good policy recognizes that and also accounts for that.”