Former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan will seek the nomination for the B.C. Liberals in the riding of Vancouver-False Creek.
Sullivan, who was mayor from 2005 to 2008, will officially announce his intentions at noon Friday at the Westin Grand Hotel across from the Vancouver Public Library.
Possible challenger Lorne Mayencourt, a former Vancouver-Burrard Liberal MLA, said he received an email earlier this week from Sullivan confirming his run.
"I actually had an email conversation with Sam, so I know he's going to be declaring tomorrow," Mayencourt said Thursday.
When reached at home Thursday, a very coy Sullivan would only tell the Courier the announcement is related to politics.
"I'm looking at all that very carefully," he said before all but announcing his run. "The key thing you should look at is what I've been doing. People have been making the case that everything you're doing you could actually do more of at the provincial government."
Mary McNeil is the current Liberal MLA in the riding but announced she is not seeking re-election in next May's provincial vote.
Sullivan has been out of politics since he lost the NPA's mayoral nomination race to Peter Ladner, who lost the election to Vision's Gregor Robertson in 2008. At the time, Sullivan was a member of the NPA party, which he represented as a councillor since the late 1990s.
Interestingly, Sullivan became the NPA's mayoral candidate in 2005 after beating challenger Christy Clark, who is now the Liberal premier of the province.
Since leaving politics, Sullivan has taught a course on sustainable cities to graduate students at the University of B.C. He also founded the Global Civic Policy Society, which was created for "research and reflection on civil society, local government and citizenship," according to Global's website.
The organization has hosted several "public salons" in which Sullivan invites artists, deep thinkers, entrepreneurs and others to speak and discuss community building.
An extension of his focus on community led Sullivan, who is proficient in several languages, to develop a smartphone app called "Greeting Fluency Aid," which allows the user to learn greetings in 22 languages.
He's taken his interest in language a step further and is working on reviving the original pidgin trade language of Chinook, which was once spoken from Alaska to California.
Mayencourt, meanwhile, said he will decide in the next two weeks on whether he will battle Sullivan. He said Sullivan's entry into the race won't change his plans either way.
"He's got a great record, I've got a great record - we'll see what happens," said Mayencourt, who was the Liberal MLA for Vancouver-Burrard from 2001 to 2008 before running unsuccessfully for the federal Conservatives in Vancouver-Centre in 2008.
Mayencourt is the director of outreach for the B.C. Liberal caucus and supported Clark in her leadership run. A few years ago, he founded a treatment centre for drug addicts in Prince George.
Other possible challengers in the race for the Liberals in Vancouver-False Creek include former federal Liberal candidate Mary Pynenburg and two young lawyers, Jacob Kojfmann and Brian Fixter.
Constance Barnes, a park board commissioner, is seeking the nomination for the NDP in the same riding. Her former Vision Vancouver colleague George Chow is the NDP's candidate in Vancouver-Langara.
Last month, former council colleague and failed NPA mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton announced she is seeking the Liberal nomination in Vancouver-Quilchena, which will be left vacant by MLA Colin Hansen, who is retiring.
Twitter: @Howellings
