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Pembina Institute director chosen as Vancouver’s new sustainability leader

October 18th, 2010 · 17 Comments

This just out.

 
The City of Vancouver today announced the selection of Amanda Pitre-Hayes as its new Director of Sustainability.
 
With 18 years of experience in leadership roles at the Pembina Institute, Vancity, Citizens Bank of Canada and the Body Shop Canada, Ms. Pitre-Hayes brings to the City innovative environmental and business practices that address the root causes of climate change. In addition, her experience with businesses such as Accenture will help guide the City’s green business and long-term sustainability objectives.
 
As Director of Climate Change Consulting with the Pembina Institute, Ms. Pitre-Hayes worked with large organizations such as Mountain Equipment Co-op and the Business Development Bank of Canada to become greener by measuring and managing carbon dioxide emissions.
 
At Vancity, Ms. Pitre-Hayes managed the organization’s climate change strategy, led its successful effort to be the first carbon neutral financial institution in North America, and developed the first carbon offset grant program in Canada.
Ms. Pitre-Hayes’ environmental expertise is complemented by solid business acumen. At Accenture, she managed multi-million dollar projects for major North American government, energy, telecom and financial services organizations. At Roberts Enterprise Development Fund, she helped social entrepreneurs grow profitable businesses that employed at-risk youth. She holds a Masters of Business Administration degree with a focus on sustainability.
 
The Director of Sustainability works with staff on Council initiatives that help the City realize its Greenest City Action Team targets and its goal of becoming the world’s greenest city by 2020.
 
Ms. Pitre-Hayes was selected by a panel of seven City staff including directors and managers, the Deputy City Manager and a representative from Human Resources. Over 100 applications were received for the position.
 
Having recently completed Ironman Canada, Amanda is looking forward to the relatively short cycle commute to City Hall from her home in Vancouver’s eastside. She begins work with the City on November 1.

Categories: City Hall Talk

  • Fred

    oh gawd help us . . . another Warmista Eco-Grifter at our city hall . . won’t that be expensive.

    Can’t wait for the signs to go up at the boundaries “Vancouver is a Hydrocarbon Free City”

    The Tides Foundation will love having another ally i City Hall.

  • rf

    It’s such a waste of a valuable skill set. She could be working with companies that are part of the problem, actually making a difference (as he has in the past), but instead the City is going to pay her $100k plus pension to sit around a table and agree with Gregor and Sadhu.

    Will this administration every realize that by such surrounding themselves with ONLY like-minded people that they will likely become oblivious to reality?

    How about the hire a “Director of Economic Reality”?

  • Dave

    So just what will this “eco warrior” and her staff cost us.

    I gather this is a new position, so whats the budget for this little gem of enlightment and greenery going to cost us?

    Good on her for being a bike rider, but does he get a CofV car as well?

  • rf

    if this site was any quieter I’d think that Penny has banned city employees from accessing it at work!

  • Bill

    The city faces a $20 million budget shortfall yet they waste resources on a position that will have has much impact on the world’s environment as those goofy nuclear weapons free zone signs have on world peace. The rest of the world is quietly getting off the AGW train yet we foolishly plow ahead wasting money that could be better spent elsewhere.

  • A.E.

    @rf – many of the usual suspects have been conspicously absent from Frances’ blog recently. Hmmmm, has Vancouver’s Iron Maiden shut them down? Many of them gave the distinct impression they were insiders. They seemed to blog on as a group, and now they’ve blogged off in the same manner. Maybe CoV’s new Director of Communications, Mairi Welman told them to stop communicating via social media, after all she did just start with CoV on September 27th.

  • Glissando Remmy

    The Thought of The Day

    “If the Public Release that I just read would have contained the words ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction and Pollution’ in it, I could have – without blinking… approved the invasion of some oil producing region in the world, say…Alberta, regardless of their allegiance.”

    This Public Release is the living proof of what’s wrong with this city, this province and this country. We are starting to realize that the ‘Inconvenient Truth’ is really, that we are governed by a bunch of Control Freaks who’s Only Qualification are…they are all Controlling Freaks in need of a platform and lots of people to control. Period.

    Starting with Joel Solomon’s 500 years plan, continuing with Gregor Robertson becoming the worst Mayor in the history of Vancouver, with Gordon Campbell the dumbest drunkard Premier and ending with Stephen Harper wining his place among the select category of shmucks who lost Canada’s seat on the UN Security council.

    Have any one of you asked yourselves the simple question: “How come all these Bozos are always able to see the Big Picture only? Never the Small Picture. Only the Big one!?

    Al Gore is into Global DeWorming, Joel Solomon is into Swindling the Planet, Gregor Robertson is into Universal Chicken Rising… like they are on a different level than the rest of us, mortals. You know, them being up there in between the clouds, and the rest of us, down here on Earth…

    I think this calls for an Up Yours in the Stratosphere, Gents!

    “The City of Vancouver today announced the selection of Amanda Pitre-Hayes as its new Director of Sustainability” Wow!

    Read the release; it is extremely hard to separate the bullshit from reality. If I would have sent a resume like that, a Junior HR interviewer would have seen through the piles of crap.
    But something is missing from this release. I wonder, how come there is no mentioning of attending the same “free lectures/ seminars/ workshops” as some other Hollyhockers? Where are the BC Bioneers, WCWC, PEJ, Hollyhock Hilariouship Institute, all with credentials in Psychology, Paranormals R Us, Philosophy, Texas Hold’em, Cosmology, Consciousness, and Delusional Parasitosis, when you need them?
    I for one am growing tired of having to listen to these New Age people trying to show us their most advanced ways of life. Who to admire, What to celebrate, How to flush, Where to make a donation…on a monthly basis, When to take action…

    And what does it all mean? Green Lingo for this Millenium. The question is: Who’s buying?
    Not me.

    Better watch this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ1uH4y_IhU

    Apparently some do.
    Frances, I hope one day, before it’s too late you’ll see the reality. Allen Garr on the other hand it’s lost to the cause, in an irreversible writer’s block.

    Now, let’s read through the lines:

    ” …experience in leadership…innovative environmental and business practices that address the root causes of climate change!!!…guide the City’s green business and long-term sustainability objectives…Director of Climate Change ..to become greener by measuring and managing carbon dioxide emissions!!!…climate change strategy!!!, the first carbon neutral…first carbon offset grant program…environmental expertise…complemented by solid business acumen…managed multi-million dollar projects for major North American government, energy, telecom and financial services organizations…helped social entrepreneurs grow profitable businesses that employed at-risk youth!!!..MBA degree with a focus!!! on sustainability…Greenest City Action Team targets…goal of becoming the world’s greenest city!!! by 2020…having recently completed Ironman Canada!!!…short cycle commute!!! to City Hall.”

    Honestly. I haven’t read such an entertaining piece of Bullshit like this in a long time.

    Promise. The first thing I’ll have, on my Friday agenda, right after I become Mayor of Vancouver – the Resurrected City, is to fire all the members of the selection committee on this Impressive Hire, and the rest of the leeches that took over this rather nice city, the following day.

    On Sunday, I’ll rest!

    We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.

  • pacpost

    @ Dave

    The position has been around since 2004.

    As for the rest, you boys enjoy the echo chamber.

  • spartikus

    For myself, the events of last week really turned me off.

    And this recent George Monbiot op-ed has hit home.

    For example, this comments on this post are almost entirely “let’s make fun of the hippies”.

    I could respond with things like, yes, global warming is real. No, the skeptics are wrong. Yes, it’s important for cities – the engines of the global economy – to address sustainability for both livability and continued prosperity. Yes, every major city (except those in the States that grind up paved roads to gravel because they are no longer willing to pay the maintenance) take it seriously.

    I would provide citations to support my case.

    However, what’s the point.

    Let’s make fun of the hippies!

  • West End Gal

    Glissando, you rock!
    I didn’t get it the first time, but your ‘thought of the day is pure genius’ following my reading about, hmm, Pembina Institute and their take on Alberta’s Oil !
    ““If the Public Release that I just read would have contained the words ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction and Pollution’ in it, I could have – without blinking… approved the invasion of some oil producing region in the world, say…Alberta, regardless of their allegiance.”
    Coffee roasters of America Unite! The Ironlady has landed. Another imaginary and ‘useful’ job with the City of Vancouver! Hey, the Robertson radicals are not paying for it. We are. If I’d never hear from them in one thousand years that would be too soon. Oh, excuse me that would be 500 years.

  • Bill

    @spartikus,

    The George Monbiot piece should be read by everyone and perhaps those who agree with him will abandon the political process (since too many people have psychologically damaged by our society to ever vote properly) and withdraw to communes of like minded individuals and lead by example. No doubt the rest of us will want to jump on board when we see the perfect society they have created. Oh wait a minute, the Hippies already tried the commune thing in the 60’s didn’t they……..

  • rf

    Oh gawd, Sparty…..
    Not to oversimplify, but get your income up over $125k (where every dollar after is taxed at 43.6%) and then ask yourself if you need to be less selfish by keeping the other 56.4%.
    Then pay consumption taxes on most of what you do spend and property taxes on top that.

    When more than 50% of what you make goes back into the ‘intrinsic’ collective pot, it makes me not give an extrinsic damn what socialists think. Does that make me intrinsic or extrinsic?

    Either way…….”Meh.”

  • spartikus

    @Bill

    Right. That’s exactly what it was about.

    @rf

    but get your income up over $125k

    Will do.

    Um…what about everyone else?

  • Thomas

    What is particularly interesting for me is the fact that someone with an MBA can be propped up in a ‘sustainability’ position. This is a position for a specialist in either engineering/ architecture/ environmental design, someone who really knows what sustainability means or it’s suppose to mean. What you’ve got is another bureaucrat, with a big mouth, with a flexible spine and with an average education. As long as it kisses City Manager and other senior management butt you’ll probably be fine. Not!

  • Higgins

    Director of Sustainability. Wow. Hold me, or I’ll fall. By Mephistopheles, not another talking head, pencil pusher, flushing advocate, seat cushion warmer, on taxpayers money. In the old USSR this job was called ‘Old Newspaper to Toilet Paper’ Propagandist. And usually they were all morons with Party connections. Oops, look whom I’m talking to.

  • PtW

    Whoa. Vitriol abounds here. Amanda is an intelligent, qualified person for a role that has proven to make a big contribution to quality of life.

  • RoKeSca

    Isn’t there something very peculiar about Ms. Pitre-Hayes going from being the treasurer of the Robertsons Treedom Ventures to this position and being replaced by here partner with the records of Treedom kept at their house. Looks like another instance of the revenge of the Hollyhock.