Mayor Kennedy Stewart used his inauguration speech Monday to outline how 鈥渞espect鈥� will be at the centre of his approach to working with a 10-member council comprised of four political parties as they focus on tackling Vancouver鈥檚 affordability crisis.
Mayor Kennedy Stewart and 10 city councillors were sworn in Monday at Creekside community centre. They were to hold their first council meeting Monday evening. Photo Jennifer Gauthier
The 52-year-old former Burnaby NDP MP stood at a lectern and promised a crowd of about 250 people at Creekside community centre that he will inform councillors and residents of his intentions, and listen to their ideas before making decisions.
鈥淚t is up to all of us to serve as examples for our community and strive to foster an environment of openness and transparency with a goal of building trust across the city,鈥� he said, as his wife Dr. Jeanette Ashe, mother Cathy and brother Evan listened from the front row. 鈥淚 will do my best to live by these words.鈥�
Stewart, who was elected Oct. 20 as an independent, leads a mixed council with five members of the NPA, three from the Green Party, one from COPE and another from OneCity, all of whom were sworn in by Judge Harbans Dhillon.
A diverse crowd, including former and current politicians from all three levels of government, police officers, firefighters, business executives, housing advocates and artists witnessed the inauguration, which included Stewart and councillors being piped in by a former VPD officer and entertained by the VPD鈥檚 lion dance team.
Faye Leung congratulates Mayor Kennedy Stewart. Photo Jennifer Gauthier
Guests included former premier Mike Harcourt, who was elected mayor in 麻豆传媒映画in 1980 as an independent. Stewart said Harcourt鈥檚 time as an independent mayor provides 鈥渉istorical guidance鈥� on how the next four years will go at city hall.
鈥淢ike tells me such councils perhaps have the greatest potential for success, as all voices matter equally,鈥� he said, noting Harcourt鈥檚 council also included his colleague, former Vancouver-East NDP MP Libby Davies, who was master of ceremonies Monday.
It was Davies who urged Stewart and the councillors to break through 鈥減artisan histories and traditions to find ways of learning and co-operating.鈥� She said the 鈥渆asy road鈥� is to slide into hyper-partisanship, which 麻豆传媒映画councils have a strong history of doing because of majority governments.
鈥淲e have high hopes for this new city council, and we wish you well,鈥� she said. 鈥淪eek what unites you while respecting your adversaries, work in good faith for the greater good of our city.鈥�
That greater good will be heavily focused on helping solve what Stewart called Vancouver鈥檚 鈥渟ingle greatest challenge:鈥� the lack of affordable housing in Vancouver. He promised in his campaign to build 85,000 homes over the next 10 years, with 25,000 of those non-profit 鈥渁ffordable鈥� rental homes and 25,000 purpose-built rental apartments and laneway homes.
鈥淭he consequences of our housing crisis ripples out into every part of our civic fabric,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter who you are or where in this city you go, the stress of unaffordability hangs over Vancouver, stifling its creativity and energy and promise of opportunity. But it doesn鈥檛 need to be this way.鈥�
Photo Jennifer Gauthier
He said each councillor 鈥渃hampions policies鈥� that can help 麻豆传媒映画鈥渟olve our affordability crisis and show the world it is possible to successfully address this problem.鈥� He mentioned each councillor by name in giving examples of their commitment.
It ranged from Green Party Coun. Pete Fry 鈥榮 promise to stand up for renters to NPA Coun. Colleen Hardwick鈥檚 鈥渃utting-edge鈥� public consultation to COPE Coun. Jean Swanson鈥檚 ongoing mission to help the poor and the addicted. The other councillors sworn in were Rebecca Bligh (NPA), Sarah Kirby-Yung (NPA), Lisa Dominato (NPA), Michael Wiebe (Greens), Christine Boyle (OneCity) and Adriane Carr (Greens) and Melissa De Genova (NPA), who were both re-elected.
Stewart said he wanted to build a 麻豆传媒映画that leads the world in livability, 鈥渃ultural production,鈥� social justice, economic development, in tackling climate change, in fun and in 鈥渃oolness.鈥� While he continues to celebrate the election of eight women to council, Stewart acknowledged the council does not reflect the ancestral diversity of Vancouver.
He said he was deeply concerned that not one person of Chinese, South Asian or Filipino descent holds a council seat, which means more than 50 per cent of the population鈥檚 ancestry is not represented at city hall. He promised to do 鈥渆verything I can to reach out to your communities and to make sure the decisions we make at city hall take your experiences and realities into account.鈥�
He also pointed out there is no one of Indigenous descent on council, but that he will continue the work of the previous council on its reconciliation efforts with the urban Aboriginal community and the three local First Nations 鈥� the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh 鈥� who were all represented at Monday鈥檚 inauguration in song and speech.
Stewart, who is on leave from Simon Fraser University as a public policy professor, cited his academic mentor, Dr. Patrick Smith, in explaining how 麻豆传媒映画has a choice to make over the next four years on whether it wants to be a 鈥済lobalized or globalist鈥� city.
MP Hedy Fry gives her son, Green Party councillor Pete Fry, a hug at Monday鈥檚 ceremony. Photo Jennifer Gauthier
鈥淕lobalized cities are held hostage by external forces that shape civic policy and international standing鈥攖hey are ships foundering in stormy seas,鈥� he said. 鈥淕lobalist cities develop proactive strategies and become significant players in shaping how the world works. They have the wind at their backs and set the course which others follow.鈥�
He said 麻豆传媒映画has been 鈥済lobalist鈥� in the past by embracing and celebrating multiculturalism and the LGBTQ community, championing the four-pillars drug strategy and leading the way on protecting the environment.
But, he said, it is a difficult feat to return to a leading city when it is beset by a volatile world economy, rising inflation and interest rates, housing speculation, a widening gap between rich and poor and a flood of deadly opioids poisoning residents.
鈥淲e can and must be a globalist city,鈥� he said.
