City’s mayoral hopefuls keeping controversy at bay
Few mayoral hopefuls in Vancouver or Burnaby seemed eager to say Tuesday whether they supported the Trans Mountain pipeline project in its latest, federally backed guise.
While sitting mayors in each of the cities led vocal and legal opposition to the project on behalf of their constituents during their latest terms, the October municipal election could offer residents a chance to correct or stay that course.
For now, however, only one mayoral hopeful expressed even measured support for the project.
Hector Bremner, whose mayoral bid under a Non-Partisan Association banner was dashed by the party’s board earlier this month, but who is now exploring the creation of a new party, said he did not oppose the pipeline project, though he did have concerns with it.
“It’s just unfortunate that this debate has been so divisive within our community given we aren’t in a decision-making position. That said, I understand the passion people have,” Bremner said, adding that he remained focused on matters within the city’s jurisdiction.
In contrast, independents Kennedy Stewart, Shauna Sylvester and David Chen, and Vision hopefuls Ian Campbell and Taleeb Noormohamed all expressed opposition to the project. So too did Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan.
“Burnaby will continue to ask the courts to please protect the Canadian people from a federal government that is bought and paid for by the oil industry,” Corrigan said in a written statement.
Non-Partisan Association mayoral nomination hopeful Glen Chernen did not respond to requests for his position, while other NPA mayoral hopefuls Ken Sim and John Coupar declined to take public positions on the project.
Sim said that if mayor, he would make sure “environmental safety standards are extremely high” if the project proceeded. Coupar said the city’s legal attempts to stop the project have cost taxpayers and he said he believed mayors should deal with civic matters.
Stewart, who recently pleaded guilty to criminal contempt in relation to his protest of the project, said he would continue to do everything he could to stop it.
Stewart said he believed the issue would continue to resonate with voters come election day and he encouraged all candidates to say where they stand on the project.
Meanwhile, Vancouver’s sitting mayor, Gregor Robertson, remained staunchly opposed to the project Tuesday.
“It’s appalling that the federal government is willing to spend over $4 billion of our tax dollars to buy a Texas oil company’s pipeline,” Robertson said in a written statement.
Under Robertson, the city joined court actions against the project, which the mayor said puts tens of thousands of jobs at risk in the event of an oil spill.
Robertson also noted the city is still trying to recover $550,000 in costs from the federal government’s Ship-Source Oil Pollution Fund three years after the MV Marathassa spilled 2,700 litres of bunker fuel in English Bay. The fund had offered the city less than 30 per cent of its cleanup costs, Robertson said Sunday.