Biography
Christine Cunningham immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of nine. As a teen, Christine protested nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean and walked from Vancouver to Hope in “Miles for Millions” to raise money for an indigenous resource center.
Riding the wave of the women’s liberation movement in the 1970’s, Christine studied at SFU and then obtained a law degree at UBC. Christine worked full time for 33 years as a lawyer, mainly in the area of children’s law, retiring in 2016.
From 2018-2022, Christine served as the only Green on the Burnaby School Board, contributing to the Burnaby School District’s first stand-alone Environmental Strategic Plan and its’ in- depth anti-racism work.
In 2005, when Kinder Morgan (now Trans Mountain) cut down 100 trees and understory on a right of way in Forest Grove, Christine and 7 other community members successfully persuaded Kinder Morgan to spend $75,000 to replant the right of way with native species. Very concerned about climate change and environmental protection, Christine appeared as an intervenor in the National Energy Board Hearings, opposing construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline, and as a presenter to the TMX Panel, opposing the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. More recently, she has advocated for the preservation of the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area, the Fraser Foreshore Ecological Reserve and the Pacific Great Blue Heron Colony in Deer Lake Park.
