Mayor faces low-temperature scrutiny on return from vacation
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson responded Tuesday to critics outraged by his lack of presence during the city’s recent cold snap, saying the city and his council had a firm handle on the situation and that he remained in touch via phone and email throughout the ordeal.
At his first media appearance of the year, Robertson also dismissed findings of a recent poll that suggested his approval ratings are among the lowest of 10 Canadian mayors.
Robertson had left the city for Ontario, then Mexico last month, shortly after the cold snap hit, and was absent through the uncharacteristically nasty and persistent winter conditions that earned the moniker “snowmaggedon” — more for the havoc the snow wreaked than for its modest volume.
Robertson wasn’t a visible presence during what he termed “the toughest stretch of winter Vancouver has seen in over 30 years,” having released just one written statement and only tweeting a few times about the problems his constituents were facing.
“Sure, I would have been another person here who could have been shovelling sidewalks … but the important work needed to be done by the operational team at the city,” he told reporters.
While Robertson said the city did a good job handling the snow and ice, he also said staff are doing an analysis on whether mistakes had been made.
Asked whether he and councillors had provided enough leadership, Robertson said other members of city council were present. Here he referred by name to Vision Vancouver councillors Geoff Meggs and Raymond Louie, but not to Non-Partisan Association Coun. Melissa De Genova, who had been most vocal during the cold snap — albeit in calling for a formal inquiry into the city’s winter response.
The call for an inquiry came one day after the end of a public-opinion survey by Mainstreet Research into mayoral approval across the country.
That poll, the results of which were released this week, found Robertson to have a 50 per cent approval rating, lower than any other mayor who appeared in the survey. Robertson dismissed the findings.
“I don’t pay much attention to polls, particularly when you see what they’ve demonstrated in recent years in politics,” he said, later noting that the numbers weren’t much different from those he’d seen leading up to the last election.
Robertson suggested Vancouver residents may be tougher on its politicians than are residents in other cities.
“Ultimately the next election would be the test of support in the city and I’ve had a bold agenda. There’s definitely a mix of opinions, but that’s healthy in a democracy,” said the third-term mayor.
When asked about Kinder Morgan, Robertson said he was disappointed that the province gave its approval for the company’s pipeline expansion project.
Earlier, the mayor rejected any assertion that he was more focused on big-picture problems than those at the civic level, stating that his primary focus was on issues like public safety, clean streets, transportation and public utilities.