NDP pipeline opponent considers run for mayor
OTTAWA New Democrat MP Kennedy Stewart, a staunch opponent of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project, says he’s seriously considering a run to be mayor of Vancouver this fall — a decision that would see him resign from the NDP caucus in the coming months.
Calling the position a “dream job,” Stewart said he’s leaning toward throwing his hat in the ring after a poll of Vancouverites this week showed that 10 per cent of respondents favoured him for the city’s top job.
Since the poll was released Wednesday morning, he said he’s been “overwhelmed” with calls from supporters — “probably the most positive ones I’ve had in my political career.”
Stewart, federal MP for Burnaby South since 2011, has been a vocal opponent of Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline expansion, which would run through Burnaby and to a terminal in his riding. In March, he was arrested at a protest at Kinder Morgan’s facility on Burnaby Mountain alongside Green Leader Elizabeth May, for which he may be charged with criminal contempt of court.
He says he felt it was the last stand he could take to protest what looked like the beginning of construction of the pipeline expansion. Since then, Kinder Morgan has suspended non-essential spending on the project, pending assurances from the federal government that the pipeline will be built.
If he were to run in Vancouver’s October election, Stewart said, he would have to file his papers by September and would announce his resignation as an MP before then.
“I don’t think I could file to stand as a candidate and still be a member of Parliament,” he said.
Stewart said he’s already spoken with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh about a possible mayoral run, and he has the leader’s support.
His resignation would open up a seat in an NDP stronghold at a time when the federal leader seems to be considering whether to seek a seat in the House of Commons.
Last month, reports suggested Singh was seriously considering a run in former leader Tom Mulcair’s riding in Outremont, Que., potentially a risky choice for a leader from outside the province. Stewart said he’d “fully support” Singh running to replace him in Burnaby South instead.
Sitting Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, of the left-leaning Vision Vancouver party, announced in January that he wouldn’t seek re-election in October.
His party has not yet put forward its own candidate, and has suggested it could support a mayoral candidate who isn’t running under the Vision banner to unite the progressive vote.
Stewart said he hasn’t decided whether he would run for a party or as an independent candidate if he enters the race. But he described the city ’s opposition party, the centre-right Non-Partisan Association, as “a bunch of Harper Conservatives.”
“I’m really worried about them taking over the city,” he said.
Wednesday’s poll found that Green party Coun. Adriane Carr, who is considering a mayoral run, is leading the pack with support from more than a third of respondents. Three other contenders, including two sitting councillors, had support from between 10 and 20 per cent of those polled.
Stewart said he’ll make a “more concrete” announcement about his plans next week, once he’s spoken with more people about his options. “So far all the ducks are lined up,” he said. “I actually see a path forward for this.”