Wait a sec, here … Mayor Gregor Robertson and Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan in the same press release?
Say it isn’t so.
A leftover April Fool’s joke, maybe?
Or, perhaps one of them lost a bet.
I’ll get to the release in a few paragraphs.
First, some background…
For those who don’t pay close attention to the relationships between mayors, let’s just say Robertson and Corrigan aren’t backslapping buddies when it comes to policy and politics.
Some evidence:
• Robertson is a booster of the regional mayors’ $7.5 billion transit and transportation plan to cut congestion in Metro Vancouver. Corrigan voted against the plan, saying Vancouver’s request for a subway was too costly. He's also voting No in the plebiscite while Robertson is leading the campaign for a Yes vote.
• Robertson is a supporter of drug injection sites. Corrigan told me in 2007 “that people need to get off drugs, not to be supported while they’re on drugs. I think that all of us need to consider other options rather than maintaining people on drugs.”
• Robertson supports a regional police force. Corrigan believes “all of our resources would be sucked into Vancouver,” if such a force were created. The RCMP serves Burnaby.
I could go on about Corrigan saying Vancouver thinks it’s “the centre of the universe,” that Vancouver “gets rid of their industrial land and turns it over to housing, which is more remunerative and leads to higher taxes” and that Vancouver “seems to create a lot of people that need to be in prison, but I don’t see any prisons in Vancouver.”
Instead, I’ll get to that release featuring Robertson and Corrigan, which the centre of the universe’s communications office issued Tuesday with the headline, “Mayors stand together against Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal.”
So, yes, the two mayors actually agree on something.
But it's not a real big surprise that Robertson and Corrigan are opposed to the proposal, since the pipeline would run through Burnaby and more tankers would ply Vancouver waters. The mayors of New Westminster, North Vancouver, Victoria, Squamish and Bowen Island are on board with Robertson and Corrigan.
All of them are steamed and want the feds to put the pipeline proposal on hold until the National Energy Board “addresses the significant deficiencies in its public hearing and review process.”
And I quote: “The current hearing process is deeply flawed and limits cities’ abilities to represent the voices of concerned citizens, businesses and communities in an effective way. The lack of oral cross-examination is proving to be a real weakness of the National Energy Board’s hearing process.”
Here’s what Robertson said: “We want to demonstrate to our residents and businesses that we are taking the potential risks seriously, and we want to work together with other municipalities in the region to protect our economy, our environment and our people.”
And Corrigan: “We know that our concerns are shared by communities throughout the province. This flawed hearing process disallows review of aspects of the proposal that could cause the most significant damage. It is critical for this project — and for all projects that can harm communities and the environment — that we have federal review processes that are rigorous and transparent.”
As some guy in some classic movie once said, maybe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Heck, Corrigan was even spotted in the Robertson-friendly Whole Foods in Vancouver this week, according to my observant colleague Frances Bula.
So there you have it: Nothing brings politicians together like a good battle over oil pipelines and an expensive kale salad. Or, maybe Corrigan is a burger guy.
Doesn't matter.
This Corrigan connection to Vancouver just got weirder: I kid you not that I just received a notification on my phone that Corrigan's NDP MLA wife, Kathy, is now following me on Twitter.
Creepy.
Is Mercury in retrograde, or something?
twitter.com/Howellings
