Sam Sullivan

Sam Sullivan
MLA for Vancouver-False Creek
Incumbent
Assumed office May 14, 2013
Preceded by	Mary McNeil
38th Mayor of Vancouver
In office December 5, 2005 – December 8, 2008
Preceded by	Larry Campbell
Succeeded by	Gregor Robertson
Personal details
Born	1959 (age 53–54)
Political party	Liberal Party of British Columbia Non-Partisan Association
Alma mater	Simon Fraser University

Sam Sullivan, CM (born 1959) is a Canadian politician currently serving as the MLA for Vancouver-False Creek. Previously, he served as the 38th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and has been invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. He is currently President of the Global Civic Policy Society and Adjunct Professor with the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Early life

Sam Sullivan was born in 1959 to East Vancouver residents Lloyd and Ida Sullivan. His father ran Sully's Autoparts on East Hastings Street. He has three brothers Donald, Patrick, Terry and sister Carol. Sullivan attended Chief Maquinna Elementary and Vancouver Technical Secondary School in East Vancouver.

Quadriplegic

Sullivan became paralyzed after he broke his neck in a skiing accident at the age of 19. Sullivan suffered a fracture dislocation of his fourth and fifth cervical vertebra, leaving him almost completely paralyzed.

After a seven-year struggle with depression, he successfully completed a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Simon Fraser University. Sullivan later founded six non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life for disabled people in North America.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, Sullivan was invested as a member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Sullivan was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Peter F. Drucker Award for Innovation.

City councillor

Sullivan was first elected to Vancouver City Council in 1993 as a member of the Non-Partisan Association (NPA). Sullivan served for 15 years total on Vancouver city council.

In Vancouver's 2002 General Local elections, Sullivan was the only incumbent member of city council from the Non-Partisan Association to win re-election after the NPA-dominated council was defeated by the COPE party.

In 2004, he led the Knowards campaign opposing the COPE-initiated campaign to replace the city's at-large system of choosing councillors with a ward voting system. The proposal was defeated 54% to 46% in a referendum.

2005 mayoral race

Following the 2002 electoral losses, the Non-Partisan Association rebuilt its slate for the 2005 election. Sullivan beat former BC Liberal Party deputy-Premier Christy Clark for the NPA mayoral nomination.

On May 2, 2006, Sullivan provided a statement to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about his past decisions to provide money to illegal drug users.^{[citation needed]} Because of increased public awareness surrounding these incidents during the mayoralty race, the Vancouver Chief of Police requested that the RCMP investigate these incidents.

Sullivan's statement gave a brief account of his decision to provide financial support to a 20-year-old woman working as a prostitute in his neighbourhood in the late 1990s, by providing $40 a day for three weeks for heroin.^{[citation needed]} Sullivan also gave money to a severely addicted crack cocaine user so he did not have to steal and let him smoke in his van.^{[citation needed]}

Jim / James Green Controversy

In the election, Sullivan ran against several candidates, the most prominent of which was Vision Vancouver councillor Jim Green. Sullivan defeated Green by a narrow margin of 3,747 votes of 130,000 ballots cast. A second, independent, candidate named James Green also ran in this election gaining over 4,000 votes. The close margin of Sullivan's victory and the similarity of independent candidate James Green's name to that of Sullivan main opponent Jim Green led to major controversy at the time. Speculation that James Green was a "spoiler" candidate was inflamed when it became known that Sullivan had helped Green in a dispute about office space. No allegations were ever proven that Sullivan was supporting the independent candidate James Green, and both men denied any wrong doing.

As mayor of Vancouver

Citizen Sam documentary

Mayor Sullivan was the subject of a National Film Board of Canada documentary Citizen Sam. It premiered in November 2006, and the film was nominated for a Gemini Award.

Olympic and Paralympic Games

Sullivan took part in the Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics, in the ceremony where the Olympic Flag was passed from Turin to Vancouver. The ceremony involves an official of the current host city waving the flag eight times, then handing it off to an official of the next host city, who waves it eight times. When it was his turn, the flag was put into a special bracket built into Sullivan's wheelchair. He then swung his wheelchair back and forth eight times to wave the flag.

After the event, Sullivan received letters from people across the world who were inspired by the act, and received many invitations to be a keynote speaker at conventions.^{[citation needed]} "I especially was moved to get letters from people who wrote very eloquent letters, saying they had considered suicide, and changed their mind when they saw me perform my duties...To see I had such an impact on people's lives was truly a humbling experience," Sullivan said in response to the reaction.

EcoDensity initiative

Shortly after the World Urban Forum held in Vancouver in June 2006, Mayor Sullivan launched the EcoDensity initiative. This included plans to densify Vancouver, including more towers and allowing secondary houses on existing single-family properties. Sullivan claimed higher densities and smaller ecological footprints were necessary to sustain a growing population.

In a move that was roundly criticized by both community members and the local media, Sullivan's staff registered the term EcoDensity with the patent office under his name. In September 2007 the City of Vancouver announced that the ownership of the trademark had been transferred to the city.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009 the Canadian Institute of Planners awarded the EcoDensity its Planning Excellence award for City Planning.

Project Civil City

Sullivan conducted an informal survey on his website asking visitors how they felt about Civil Disorder in the City of Vancouver. On November 26, 2006, he released the results of his survey and created a new program called Project Civil City, which is known as the mayor's effort to enhance public order in Vancouver's public areas. The conclusion of Project Civil City was that police were not the answer to the city's social problems. The Police Chief of that time was opposed to the Project, saying "I'm not in favor of this kind of position" and "I can do this job". Throughout his term, Sullivan was criticized by the opposition for his reluctance to hire more police.^{[citation needed]} An important initiative of Project Civil City was the creation of the Street to Home Foundation, whose goal was to encourage philanthropists in the city to contribute toward the solution to homelessness.^{[citation needed]}

Statistics from the Vancouver Police Board indicate that in 2005, the year before he became Mayor, there were 51,429 property crimes reported in the city. In 2008, his final year as Mayor there were 40,514 property crimes.

However, in its first two years, homelessness went up 54 to 78 per cent, drug offenses doubled, and street disorder went up 84 per cent. The project was cancelled in 2010.

Civic strike

A civic strike of Vancouver's inside, outside, and library workers that began on July 26, 2007 was dubbed "Sam's Strike" by the strikers. The strike lasted 88 days and was the longest in Vancouver's history. The unions blamed Sullivan's intransigence at the bargaining table for prolonging the strike. The union cited the city never tabling a written counteroffer as evidence of the city not negotiating. A mediator was called in who recommended 17.5% [21% compounded] which was the amount accepted by the rest of the municipalities in the region. When two of the civic unions rejected the recommendation public support collapsed and within the week a new vote by the three civic unions accepted the deal. On October 19, 2007 CUPE Local 391 voted 71 percent in favour of the city's offer and ended the strike.

NPA donation allegations

Critics accused of Sullivan of mis-using political donations when $5000 raised for the Knowards campaign through the Nanitch Policy Society was used to buy tickets for campaign volunteers at a 2004 NPA dinner. Calls for an inquiry by Vancouver city council opposition members were subsequently dismissed by the Provincial government. In December 2009, The Tyee published a letter from Sullivan where he explains the background behind the Nanitch Policy Society, and in particular the donation made to the NPA.

Ouster from NPA

In 2008 NPA councillor Peter Ladner announced that he wanted to challenge Sullivan for mayor. On June 8, 2008, it was announced that Peter Ladner had defeated Sullivan to win the NPA's mayoral nomination. Ladner beat Sullivan in a tight, 1,066-to-986 vote after convincing enough NPA members that Sullivan would be defeated in the municipal election without a change in leadership.^{[citation needed]} Ladner proceeded to lose against his mayoral opponent.

Post-mayoral activities

Global Civic Policy Society

In November 2009, after a year-long hiatus from public view after leaving the Vancouver mayor's office, Sullivan announced he had formed the Global Civic Policy Society. The Global Civic Policy Society focused on developing urban growth strategies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and seeking solutions to the problems caused by drug addiction and mental illness.

Centre for Fourth Wave Reform

In February 2011, Sullivan founded the Centre for Fourth Wave Reform to explore ideas for change in municipal governance.

2012 move to provincial politics

In November 2012, Sullivan announced he would seek the BC Liberal Party nomination in Vancouver-False Creek after the current incumbent Mary McNeil said she would not be seeking a second term in the British Columbia general election, 2013. Sullivan's main competition for the nomination was Lorne Mayencourt. Sullivan defeated Mayencourt by a vote of 273 to 202, with commercial litigation lawyer Brian Fixter coming in a distant third.

External links

• Official website
• Sam Sullivan at the Internet Movie Database