Élie Lubendo

Despite being an ESL student in Grade 5 and 6, Élie would go on to join the Burnaby School District’s Gifted Learners program at Seaforth Elementary, and graduate with the top English 12 grade at Carver Christian High as valedictorian, student council president, and decorated student-athlete leader, featured on The Province’s 2012 Head of the Class.

Élie would go on to earn a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University’s Desautels Faculty in Management, majoring in Labour Relations Management and Human Resources. At McGill, Élie had fundamental impact on the campus, spearheading the Black Students’ Network Student Fee in 2015 that has funded over $300,000 of programming for Black students at McGill up to date, as well as serving for two-years on the Students’ Society of McGill University Legislative Council, and being an award-winning case competitor.

Élie has been a dedicated public servant at the City of Burnaby for six years. In 2019, the late Councillor Paul “Mr. Burnaby” McDonnell convinced him to apply for city committees. Élie served as resident representative on the Environment and Social Planning Committee, where he pushed Burnaby City Council to adopt a Climate Action Plan in 2019, and after it was disbanded, five years on the Social Planning Committee, where he served as the Vice-Chair of the Anti-Racism Subcommittee. Élie wrote a motion to adopt the UN Decade for People of African Descent and fund $50,000 to local groups to facilitate anti-racism dialogue and programs in Burnaby, under the tutelage of Councillor Colleen Jordan.

Élie has also honed his skills as a public advocate, as a participant of the 2017 UBC Institute of Future Legislators, learning from political veterans like Preston Manning, Mike Harcourt, Joy McPhail, and B.C. Lee. Élie has published a policy paper “Walk on 3D” through the Vancouver Foundation’s 2022 LEVEL Youth Policy Program, on investing in 3D-printed infrastructure to build more climate-prepared sidewalks to prevent traffic casualties. Through the Vancouver Foundation, Élie was emboldened about climate solutions and prioritizing reconciliation with First Nations in public policy, learning from trailblazing public advocates like Kori Wilson, Ginger-Gosnell Myers, Raj Sihota, Kasari Govender, Sharmarke Dubow, Andrea Reimer, Amanda Aziz, and vibhor garg.

In 2017, Élie, inspired by the political philosophy of Charles Taylor, who pushed Jack Layton to join the NDP, became a social democrat and was a strong supporter of Guy Caron for Federal NDP leader for his policy focus on guaranteed income and free trade. Over the years, Élie served as an executive of the Burnaby-Edmonds NDP EDA helping Raj Chouhan get re-elected twice. However, having become disillusioned with Jagmeet Singh’s lack of strategic thinking and foreign policy blunders, Élie left the NDP and joined the Green Party to avoid the pitfalls of compromising on his core beliefs for power. Élie is proud to run as the Burnaby Central Green candidate under the wing of Elizabeth May, one of Canada’s most consistent parliamentarians this century. Having learned from the best, Élie is thrilled to use his fluent French and political experiences to represent Burnaby in Ottawa and beyond, and to make the world a better place.