Sam Sullivan intends to be more assertive as the new Liberal MLA for Vancouver-False Creek than he says he was as mayor.
I was more tentative because I didnt know, I wasnt certain that I was going in the right direction [then], he said Tuesday night before he learned he had won.
Sullivan said he regrets delegating responsibility for the civic strike in 2007 and financial and development problems with the Olympic Village, which he acknowledged damaged his credibility.
Sullivan won the seat with nearly 52 per cent of the vote, according to unofficial results. NDP candidate Matt Toner took 37 per cent of the ballots. This election is only the second time the riding that wraps around False Creek from Kitsilano into downtown has been up for grabs. The B.C. Liberal Partys Mary McNeil was its first MLA but she chose not to run again. Sullivan wrested the nomination as Liberal candidate from former two-term Vancouver-Burrard MLA Lorne Mayencourt by a narrow margin.
A former and controversial NPA mayor who promoted the concept of EcoDensity, Sullivan wants to change the Vancouver Charter, the provincial statute that governs how the city operates, to make it easier for governments to achieve higher density.
There are certain things that are not necessary, grinding social housing through public processes, he said. Weve never had a case of social housing being a problem, certainly less problems than we would get from market housing. Thats where the problems come.
Sullivan wants social housing at each of the 14 sites the city gave the province under his watch in 2007 completed.
I have a personal, emotional attachment to getting them done, he said.
He wants streetcars from Granville Island to Science World and downtown, which in 2011 was estimated to cost upwards of $200 million.
Sullivan said his administration invested $60 million in upgrades to the Queen Elizabeth, Orpheum, the Cultch and the Playhouse Theatre.
I really want to continue to see good, strong infrastructure for arts and culture, he said.
The 53-year-old resident of Yaletown, who says he hasnt driven in eight years and travels everywhere in his wheelchair, wants to champion high quality density that makes urban living at least as, if not more, desirable than residing in the
suburbs.
Its actually morally essential, he said, referring to greenhouse gas emission and the environment.
He was coy about whether he wanted a cabinet position or what it would be. Thats not my decision, he said.
Sullivan credited Premier Christy Clark with the partys rise in popularity over the past month. He described Clark, whom he beat to be the NPAs mayoral candidate in 2005 and went on to become mayor for a three-year year term, as a tough leader who didnt give up. Sullivan was pushed out of municipal politics when the NPA favoured Peter Ladner for its mayoral candidate in 2008. Ladner was defeated by Vision Vancouvers Gregor Robertson.
Sullivan plans to continue hosting public salons through the Global Civic Policy Society he founded and promoting its smartphone app that features greetings in 20 languages.
crossi@vancourier.com
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