Robertson in Ottawa to get Liberals to follow through on promises

Wasting no time connecting with a new federal government now willing to return his calls, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson headed to Ottawa on Tuesday with a raft of action items packed in his pockets.

From climate change to Syrian refugees, and from housing to transportation, Robertson is finding doors open in Ottawa where once he and other big city mayors were shut out.

The closed-door, no-can-do attitude of the former Stephen Harper Conservatives is gone. In its place is a Justin Trudeau Liberal government that, in just its first few days, signalled it was listening to Vancouver by ordering the reopening of the Kitsilano Coast Guard base.

Robertson said he will thank Trudeau’s ministers for that quick win. But he is also setting his sights considerably higher, hoping the Liberals will follow up on an election promise to finance a new Broadway subway line.

“I am certainly bullish on the federal government’s interest in investing in the Broadway subway and the transit plan across the region, based on their campaign commitments. I will be working on advancing that while in Ottawa,” Robertson told reporters.

“I am hoping we get this thing the green light and into construction during this term as mayor.”

Robertson said he doesn’t support calls to slow down the Syrian refugee resettlement program after last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

“Making sure that people have a safe and secure place to live is an important piece for Vancouver to be a part of,” he said. “I think the federal government has been very clear on the importance of getting refugees who are the first victims of terrorism and war in the Middle East. There are very vulnerable families that we need to be helping.”

At the end of the month, Robertson will be among a group of municipal leaders joining the prime minister in Paris for the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Robertson is at the front of the list of big city mayors paying their respects — and holding out their hands — to the new Liberal government. Only last week did Trudeau make public the mandate letters he has given to his new ministers.

Over the weekend, Robertson’s political staff examined those letters and began tailoring a threeday visit to Ottawa to help ministers act on those instructions.

Mike Magee, the mayor’s chief of staff, left Vancouver on Monday to pave the way for Robertson, using close political connections he has in the Prime Minister’s Office and several departments.

It also doesn’t hurt that two MPs who hold key Vancouver ridings, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, are heavy hitters in cabinet.

It is a sea change from the days of the Conservative government, when Robertson and other municipal leaders had so much difficulty talking to Ottawa that they undertook the extraordinary step of getting politically active in the Oct. 19 election.

Robertson, the chair of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus, led the high-profile campaign. The Liberals listened, while it appears the Conservatives did not.

Now Robertson said that campaign paid off.

“I am looking forward to having a new good relationship with the federal government,” he said.

“I am looking forward to having a new good relationship with the federal government.

GREGOR ROBERTSON VANCOUVER MAYOR