Introducing Better North Shore
Clockwise from top left: Duncan Wilcock, Martyn Schmoll, Heather Drugge, Greg Robins
Better North Shore is an initiative of four residents who care deeply about the people of the North Shore. We want to identify and foster positive ideas that help address the housing and transportation challenges we all face. We all care profoundly about climate change, the greatest challenge of our time. We focus on positive, impactful, and practical measures to mitigate and reduce climate change.
While we may not hold elected positions in the city or district council, our involvement in community and local politics regularly connects us with many diverse groups. We attend council meetings, contribute to local publications, volunteer for advocacy groups, and actively participate in conversations about solving our most intractable issues.
By founding Better North Shore we are creating a focal point for people who share our values and our desire for positive changes. If you find the articles and vision set out on these pages resonate with you, please join our infrequent email list: Join our Mailing List
Here’s a bit more about each of us:
Duncan Wilcock
Duncan's primary motivator is climate change. His day job Changes Systems for a Better World at BC's leading decarbonization firm Prism Engineering & PUMA Utility Monitoring. On a daily basis, he works with more than a quarter of BC Schools, a dozen local governments around the province, advanced education Institutions, and large companies across Canada to help them track their energy usage, identify over-use of energy, and report to stakeholders on their greenhouse gas footprint.
He has lived in North Vancouver for 12 years, and currently lives in Lynn Valley with his wife and elementary-aged son. His passion for climate change in his day-job has extended to passion projects in the community that include initiating the Cargo Bikes at the Library pilot program that launched in September 2024. He volunteers for HUB Cycling Advocacy as a primary contact with the District of North Vancouver. He bought an e-Bike in 2018 to further reduce his carbon footprint while also opting out of being stuck in traffic, and he believes strongly in the ability of buses, bikes, and micro-mobility to help us out of our traffic problems, with a win-win-win that bus-lanes & bikes also make our cities more vibrant, humane, thrive economically, healthier, and more fun!
Heather Drugge
As an active transportation advocate, Heather believes walking and rolling create more livable communities and friendlier interpersonal encounters. Born on the shore over 60 years ago, she has lived in all three municipalities and currently resides in Central Lonsdale. She writes a column in the North Shore News about transportation and related topics and is one of three City of North Vancouver HUB Cycling liaisons. She has served on municipal transportation committees in West Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver. Heather has used her bike for transportation for over 20 years and works to make people on bikes safer through advocacy, education and events. In addition to being a founder of Better North Shore, she is a board member of Positive Voices West Vancouver. She is retired but works as a hiking guide for North Shore Recreation.
Martyn Schmoll
For Martyn, it all began on an eye-opening walk to school with his two young kids a little more than ten years ago. Given the amount of vehicle traffic it quickly became clear that there was no way his kids could walk or ride their bikes to school safely and independently so he started talking to school administrators, municipal leaders, and neighbours to see what could be done to make his neighbourhood streets safer and more accessible to everyone.
Now, a decade later, Martyn's a close follower of municipal affairs and an outspoken advocate for safe streets, mobility justice, and zoning reform. Martyn has served as Chair of the District of North Vancouver's Transportation Consultation Committee, studied Next-Generation Cities and Transportation at SFU, worked on Mathew Bond’s 2022 campaign for DNV Mayor, and has organized many community events designed to raise awareness and bring neighbours together in the quest for safer, more equitable streets.
Greg Robins
Greg Robins is a passionate member of the Lynn Valley and North Shore community. He ran for a council position in the District of North Vancouver in 2022, and believes in equality, affordability, and opportunity for all. He believes in a strong community represented by the interests of local residents. A supporter of small businesses owned and operated by those living on the North Shore, Greg also values our unique natural surroundings and feels they need to be protected and nurtured.
Greg has extensive volunteer experience, including as a board member of The Lookout Society as a big brother, as part of Big Brother’s Canada, and currently with the North Shore Safety Council. He believes in the importance of revitalizing and creating more rental stock that’s in character with Lynn Valley, supporting the zoning changes to permit more housing units, advocating for more transit throughout the community, and calls for safer routes for kids who want to walk or bike to school.
When not working to improve our community, he is often out riding his bike around town or on the local mountains, or in winter sliding down those mountains.
Here are three articles to start so you can get a sense of our values and advocacy work:
Climate:
Taking action on climate change: A North Shore perspectiveHousing:
Why allow any development at all?Transportation:
Solutions for North Van’s Legendary Traffic
If this article and our stories resonate with you and your values, please sign up for our mailing list. We're building a group of like-minded people who want to see the vision we've outlined on these pages. Our mailings are infrequent (generally one per month) and always respectful. You can leave at any time.