Coquitlam Resident Speaks Out on Wildfires Threatening Musicians’ Livelihoods

For alternative folk and roots musician Etienne Siew, Coquitlam, British Columbia, has been home since childhood.

“When I was a little kid, Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam was one of my favourite places and where I caught my first trout,” says Etienne.

Etienne loves the outdoor lifestyle Coquitlam offers.

“I love how close it is to anything nature-related. I’m a big nature enthusiast and outdoorsman,” says Etienne. “It’s very close to the centre of the city, but it has green space for people to walk around the lake, and even go fishing.”

Growing up, Etienne frequently fished for salmon in the Coquitlam River, and as a young adult, he tested out a career working in fisheries by volunteering with fish hatchery programs in Vancouver.

While he enjoyed the experience, Etienne’s love of music and performing ultimately pushed him in another direction.

Etienne has played music his whole life and has been doing it semi-professionally for 15 years. Right before the pandemic, he quit his job to make music full-time and to tour his new album across B.C. He couldn’t have predicted how drastically the world and live music would come to a screeching halt.

“Because I couldn’t perform live, I spent many months songwriting, going out in nature and recording music, which became the songs that I released this June for my debut vinyl. I launched it in Coquitlam at the Evergreen Theatre. That was a huge success,” says the musician.

Etienne hopes his music goes beyond being simple entertainment.

“I want to connect people with nature and create awareness of what is going on and how our world is changing. If we take care of our green spaces, they’ll take care of us,” says Etienne.

Etienne wrote a song a few years ago called Leviathan, which was inspired by his friends who live in the Okanagan, where wildfires spread a few summers ago, were forced from their homes. When the fires were under control, Etienne visited for a weekend and played music with his friends.

“It was devastating to see what had happened to that area. It was so lush and green. It was reduced to ash. It inspired me to write a song of hope for them about what they went through,” says Etienne.

Etienne received wide attention for his song and even had magazines writing about it from New York, Australia, and other places. He hopes this international spotlight will make more people aware of how B.C.’s wildfires have worsened because of climate change.

But Etienne also wants to help the public understand how wildfires across B.C. have created challenges for musicians like him.

“I have to be way more cautious if I am performing in B.C.’s interior. It’s pretty frightening, a gamble, driving that way as soon as the summer months come around as they inevitably bring the wildfires with them. I would definitely say it affects earning potential,” says Etienne. “It’s weird the things you have to consider when you’re a musician. You need to breathe to sing.”

While Etienne thinks the connection between wildfires and climate change is clear, he admits finding a solution is much harder.

“It’s a pretty dire situation that I don’t see improving for other communities. They’re all going to go through very similar things [to my friends’ experience] with wildfires taking over. I’m not sure what the solution is, but people definitely need help.”

While fires haven’t hit his home of Coquitlam directly, Etienne believes that suburban cities like his have a role to play.

“More can always be done and looking at other cities and what is working is a good place to start.”

While Etienne applauds efforts in his area to reduce carbon emissions, from the extension of Vancouver’s Skytrain to Coquitlam, to more electric municipal vehicles, to LED street lamps, other cities are taking steps that could be beneficial for Coquitlam to follow.

Just 20 kilometres west of Coquitlam, the City of Burnaby—a Tri-Cities and Lower Mainland neighbourhood known for its mall, a top Canadian university, and hosting film productions like Deadpool and X-Men to name a few—is tackling pollution, one building at a time.

With buildings being responsible for up to 60% of municipal carbon pollution in some areas, Burnaby has adopted a Zero Carbon Step Code, a bylaw that requires developers to use energy-efficient, electric technologies in all new buildings.

Coquitlam has something similar on the table and the local City Council has been debating its adoption. It’s something concrete Etienne supports and thinks is a move in the right direction that would tell the Council that residents like him care.

“I think that would be great as it helps to mitigate climate change. These are all steps that will make a difference,” Etienne says.

Etienne can envision a world where Coquitlam residents use less gas. He thinks renewable energy “for sure” has a role to play in his community long-term.

“It’s cool to see that there are steps being taken and moving that way,” says Etienne.

As Etienne continues to inspire with his music, he hopes people in his area write to the government to let them know they support them in making these changes.

“I know that change takes a long time and it’s not easy to pass things, but it does need to happen. The decisions that we make matter. ”