The Vision Vancouver era at city hall is over. What will the Kennedy Stewart era bring?
The former Burnaby South NDP MP will be sworn-in the 40th mayor in City of Vancouver history on Nov. 5 and has a big job ahead of him to deal with homelessness, the opioid crisis and a city hall needing a transparency and accountability overhaul. An overhaul that outgoing Mayor Gregor Robertson promised in 2008, but didn’t deliver.
In an exclusive interview near his False Creek North home, Stewart told theBreaker.news Podcast host Bob Mackin that a lobbyist registry would be one of his first priorities.
“If we do it at the City of Vancouver then other municipalities might follow suit,” Stewart said. “It was my first promise, launching my campaign. I am already keen. It’s an easy first thing I can deliver to the city.”
Stewart, who won the Oct. 20 civic election with less than 1,000 votes over the NPA’s Ken Sim, said his advantage is being an independent. But it also means negotiating with the five NPA councillors, three Greens and one each from OneCity and COPE to find consensus and to avoid political deadlock.
Also on this special edition of theBreaker.news Podcast, an encore presentation of Gregor Robertson in his own words and ResearchCo pollster Mario Canseco offers his take on the legacy of Robertson and Vision. Plus commentaries.
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