This week, the fresh faces of a new 麻豆传媒映画city council stood before family, friends and political supporters in a gymnasium at Creekside Community Centre as they were sworn into office. Former NDP MP Libby Davies led the ceremony, advising the incoming councillors to play nice and eschew partisan politics.
In a nutshell, it was her 鈥淐an鈥檛 we all just get along?鈥� moment.
Davies, a former 麻豆传媒映画city councillor, was joined in the audience by NDP MP and former COPE city councillor Jenny Kwan, as well as retired NDP MP Svend Robinson and former NDP premier and independent 麻豆传媒映画mayor Mike Harcourt.
Union leaders such as MoveUp president David Black were also there to celebrate the new council 鈥� and, in particular, the 麻豆传媒映画District Labour Council鈥檚 hand-picked candidate for mayor, Kennedy Stewart.
The ceremony closed with Stewart reading his first speech as Vancouver鈥檚 newly minted mayor.
For someone who had just been handed the city鈥檚 chain of office, Stewart鈥檚 speech was surprisingly devoid of any mention of 麻豆传媒映画at all. One might attribute this to his serving as a Member of Parliament in Burnaby, but I think it was more deliberate.
Stewart, like Davies before him, directed part of his message to the majority NPA and Green councillors on his council. He opened by thanking the other mayoral candidates for staying away from 鈥渄ivisive politics鈥� like we are seeing around the world.
He promised 鈥渞espect鈥� for his fellow councilmates and for citizens. As well, he aspires to lead a city government based upon openness, transparency and a 鈥渨illingness鈥� to build trust.
If there were values that were absent during Vision Vancouver鈥檚 time in office, it would include those three.
In addition to channeling a conciliatory message to these councillors 鈥� who can make or break his own civic agenda 鈥� Stewart repeated at least six times to lead as a 鈥済lobalist鈥� mayor.
Vancouver, said Stewart, should become a 鈥渢rue world city.鈥�
You could say that we have had our fill of 鈥済lobal鈥� politics in Vancouver. With its perennial battle over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion under Mayor Gregor Robertson, the city was continuously on the front lines of a global battle for energy supremacy.
Stewart is a key opponent of that project, even allowing himself to be arrested earlier this year at a Kinder Morgan protest.
One could argue 麻豆传媒映画might want to step back off the global stage for a while 鈥� if only to get its house in order. The issues of housing affordability, transportation or strengthening municipal services take precedence for the majority of residents here.
I only recently became aware how volatile the term globalist has become. It is widely used a pejorative among far-right political supporters and xenophobes.
Stewart explained the difference between being 鈥済lobalized鈥� and globalist, hinting that 麻豆传媒映画was globalized by foreign capital and outsiders. He said globalized cities are 鈥渉ostage to global forces鈥� and often 鈥渇oundering on stormy seas鈥� 鈥� which he presumably wants to change here.
He did not say how he would help 麻豆传媒映画embrace globalism.
What Stewart did reveal that day, however, is who will help him run the mayor鈥檚 office 鈥� namely Neil Monckton and Anita Zaenker. It is Stewart鈥檚 pro-union dream team with close ties to the provincial NDP.
Zaenker comes to the mayor鈥檚 office straight from her role as an organizer with the B.C. Federation of Labour. She once reported to George Heyman while working at the B.C. Government Employees Union, before he became an NDP MLA.
Over a decade ago, Zaenker was part of the breakaway 鈥淒iet COPE鈥� faction that later formed Vision Vancouver.
Monckton is a longtime ally of Stewart. Both were involved in the now defunct Think City urban policy shop, along with Monckton鈥檚 father-in-law SFU, professor Doug McArthur, another former NDP staffer. Georgia Straight鈥檚 Charlie Smith predicts McArthur will be an adviser to Stewart.
While running Stewart鈥檚 election campaign, Monckton attracted some unwanted media attention by getting caught in a phone recording. He called small business operator and NPA supporter Mike Jagger to badger him into taking down a tweet.
The resulting embarrassment for Stewart鈥檚 campaign caused Monckton to delete his Twitter account.
We will soon see if Stewart鈥檚 mayoralty is more defined by council鈥檚 collegiality, or the aggressive style of his staff member.
