Experienced my first big scrum of the year with Mayor Gregor Robertson last Thursday.
It was in a downtown alley off Howe Street, there were lots of guys in dark suits and I recognized two VPD guys — also in suits — in the crowd.
Sinister stuff, eh?
Not really.
The mayor was in the alley as part of a groundbreaking ceremony to announce the construction of a $200 million, 31-storey office tower called The Exchange.
After he participated in the obligatory photo-op of him and business types turning sod, Robertson stepped into the scrum to answer what was on the minds of us journos.
So here’s a summary of his answers for your reading pleasure…
On the dangers of terrorism and the Vancouver delegation’s trip to the Winter Olympics in Sochi: “The Russian Federation has assured everyone who is coming to the Games that it will be safe. But I think our group is aware that there are risks. Certainly, they were aware going in that there are going to be risks for them advocating for gay rights, which in Russia is a big challenge. But they’re a courageous bunch.”
On the provincial government’s plan to hold a transit referendum and tie it to the municipal election in November: “It’s been really disappointing and frustrating for us to see the B.C. government kind of attacking mayors when we’ve been very clear on our priorities, on our support for transit in the region — asking for funding tools, asking for a change in governance and we’re not getting any response.”
On whether Vancouver will get the much-talked about public bike share program with Alta Bicycle Share and Bixi, which is in financial trouble: “We don’t have any financial commitment to date. We were, I think, very prudent ensuring we didn’t get too far into it until we had all the right guarantees in place. So, we’ll see.”
On redesign and closure of Point Grey Road to through traffic: “Sounds like traffic is flowing well on Point Grey Road. And as with previous bike lane changes, there was a lot of handwringing but everything is going fine … so far, I’m not hearing any real concerns. The traffic is moving, people are adjusting as needed.”
Then I asked the mayor another question about the transit referendum that left me a wee bit embarrassed. Apparently, I misread a colleague’s story on the latest news on the referendum hub-bub and thought Coquitlam mayor Richard Stewart was recently elected chairperson of the mayors’ council on regional transportation.
Going with that, I went on to ask Robertson if he was confident that Stewart, a former Liberal MLA and big supporter of Premier Christy Clark, would continue to be on side with the mayors and not pressure them to change their mind.
“Richard Stewart or Richard Walton?” the mayor replied.
At that point, I knew I was in trouble.
Walton, mayor of North Vancouver district, is still the chairperson of the mayors’ council.
Ugh.
Man, I felt like a goof.
I could blame the guy on the bus coughing into my neck when I read my colleague’s story about the referendum — not to mention the other guy sitting next to me who overdosed on garlic and was engaged in some conversation about counter-insurgency.
Kind of distracting.
Anyway, if Stewart ever does become chair of the mayors’ council, Robertson can expect me to recycle that question. For now, I’ll refrain from reading on the bus when I’m on my way to a press conference.
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