Mayor Robertson has some big, clear goals for Vancouver. Ending street homelessness by 2015. Becoming the greenest city in the world. Turning Vancouver into a hub for artists, culture, and sustainable business.
With Vancouver playing host to the world with the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Mayor Robertson is working to capitalize on the global spotlight, by highlighting the best Vancouver has to offer: as a livable, innovative city that is great to live in; by defining Vancouver as an entrepreneurial and energetic home to emerging businesses; and as a city whose creativity and diverse, multicultural population is second to none.
“The Green Mayor goes for Gold”
“Vancouver’s mayor, on the job for only a year and in politics less than five, doesn’t match the mould of the typical Canadian politician. Mr. Robertson has led the life of a risk-taking entrepreneur. From work as a cowboy in rural British Columbia and sailing the Pacific Ocean in a small boat, to starting an organic farm and then Happy Planet, Mr. Robertson is no standard-issue staid politician.”
“Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson an ambitious dreamer”
While sitting in his wood-beamed kitchen, Robertson confirms what I heard from associates about his frustration with the slow, often argumentative nature of the Victoria legislative process. “I don’t have a history of partisan politics. I don’t fit into a neat box,” he says, forming a square in the air with his fingers. “The clock is ticking. The short-term churn of legislative politics undermines serious change. At the increasing rate of consumption worldwide, we’ll soon need four planets to provide people with what they want. This is where my sense of urgency comes from. What is their future?” And he points to his kids’ pile of abandoned runners scattered beside the back door.”
“Spending Vancouver’s new Olympic capital”
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson heads east to Ottawa this week, to spend some of the political capital that he and the city have amassed during the successful run of the 2010 Games. On his shopping list: a national housing strategy to help Vancouver’s homeless, and greater funding for transit, both from the federal and B.C. governments.
“We suppressed expectations and then we had a home run. It feels like we knocked this one out of the park. Now that it’s happened, we have to capitalize on that. We need to take a deep breath and focus on the follow-up.”
To learn more about Mayor Gregor Robertson, you can read his bio here, and stay up-to-date on what’s happening in Vancouver and at City Hall by visiting the News section.