Gregor Angus Bethune Robertson (born September 18, 1964) is a Canadian businessman and a progressive[2] politician, who served as the 39th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, from 2008 to 2018. As the longest consecutive serving Mayor in Vancouver's history,[3] Robertson and his team led the creation and implementation of the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan[4] and spearheaded the city's first comprehensive Economic Action Strategy.
Robertson was born in North Vancouver in 1964.[6] His father was a lawyer with Russell & Dumoulin, a prominent Vancouver law firm, and his mother was a teacher.[7] After his parents divorced, Robertson grew up partly in Portola Valley, near San Francisco with his mother, and later with his father in North Vancouver.[7] In 1982, he graduated from Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver and attended Colorado College and the University of British Columbia,[8] graduating from the former with a BA in English and Biology. After graduating, he intended to become a physician, but the University of British Columbia School of Medicine rejected his application.[7][9] Robertson then completed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT/paramedic) training, but turned his career focus towards healthy food and nutrition.[7]
His relations include grandfather Emile Therrien, a pioneering doctor, and Norman Bethune, his grandmother's cousin, a noted anti-fascist and Communist famous for battlefield medicine in the Spanish Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War.[7]
He worked on a ranch as a cowboy in the Cariboo[8] restored a wooden sailboat and sailed across the Pacific for 18 months, accompanied by his then wife, Amy, whom he had met in Colorado.[7] They settled in New Zealand, where he began farming as a trade.[9] After turning 25, he returned to Canada, where he purchased land in Glen Valley near Fort Langley, and made his living as a farmer there.[8]
Robertson later went on to co-found Happy Planet, a Vancouver-based company that produces and markets organic fruit and vegetable beverages and soups.[8] He was named one of Canada's "Top 40 under 40" by The Globe and Mail.[10] He was also a Tides Canada (public foundation) director from 2002 until 2004, when he entered politics with the provincial New Democratic Party.
He was elected to the BC Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party having defeated the trade union leader Judy Darcy in a high-profile battle for the party's nomination. He then beat British Columbia Liberal Party's Virginia Greene in the general election. During his time as the MLA for Vancouver-Fairview, Robertson served as the Opposition Critic for Advanced Education, Small Business Critic[11] and as the co-chair of the Caucus Climate Change Taskforce.[12]
In February 2008, Robertson announced that he would run for Mayor of Vancouver. In June 2008, Robertson secured the Vision Vancouver party's nomination as its mayoral candidate,[14] defeating Raymond Louie and Allan De Genova.[15] Robertson soon announced his resignation from the Legislative Assembly effective July 15, 2008.[16] His main rival was Peter Ladner of the Non-Partisan Association.
He was elected by a solid margin in the 2008 municipal election. Seven of the ten seats on Vancouver City Council also went to Robertson's Vision Vancouver party. "It was a hard-fought campaign," he told supporters gathered at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, "but there is far more that unites us than divides us."[17]
Robertson secured a landslide victory in the 2011 municipal election.[18] He defeated Suzanne Anton of NPA by a margin of 18,853 votes,[19] while Vision Vancouver won seven of the ten seats on the Vancouver City Council.[18]
Robertson was re-elected to a third term in 2014, defeating Kirk LaPointe of NPA.[20]
In January 2018, Robertson announced that he would not seek re-election in the fall election.[21]
Mayoral term (2008–2018)
Economic growth
In 2011, Robertson created the city's first Economic Action Strategy which led to creation of jobs in sectors such as green energy and digital media.[22] During his mayoral tenure, Vancouver became the fastest-growing metropolitan economy in the country, according to the Conference Board of Canada.[23] Vancouver's unemployment was down in six of the last seven years of his term;[24] the unemployment rate of 4.5% in 2018 was one of the lowest in the country.[25]
Action on homelessness
Under Robertson's leadership, Vancouver City Council made progress in reducing homelessness.
On December 9, 2008, he announced low-barrier HEAT shelters to assist Vancouver's homeless citizens during an extremely cold winter,[26] which were filled to capacity.[27][28][29][30] On September 15, 2009, Vancouver city staff issued a report warning Robertson and the City Council that they should no longer expect the HEAT shelters to be funded after the 2009–2010 fiscal year.[31][32][33][34] In 2011, by the end of his first mayoral term, more than 90 percent of the homeless people in Vancouver were reportedly sleeping in shelters or other temporary spaces.[35]
In 2014, he oversaw the creation of Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency, which was established to create housing units primarily for low to moderate-income households.[36] A neighbourhood plan aimed to shape development of the Downtown Eastside was also approved. The plan was aimed to protect low-income residents of the area who were struggling to afford rent amidst a rise in cost of living.[37]
In September 2017, the Government of British Columbia announced a funding commitment of $66 million towards Robertson's plan to build 600 units of temporary modular housing in Vancouver.[38] In partnership with the BC Government, temporary modular homes were built within 18 months on empty or underutilized City-owned land, providing immediate relief to 600 people living without a home, as well as access to 24/7 supports, including life skills training and health services.[38]
In 2018, an annual count recorded 2,181 homeless people in Vancouver, up from 1,576 at the beginning of his term in 2008.[39] Robertson attributed this increase to a lack of support from provincial and federal governments.[40] In addition, numbers released by B.C. Housing Ministry pointed to an influx of homeless people coming to British Columbia from other provinces.[41] A 2016 study by Simon Fraser University found that 52% of the homeless people surveyed in Downtown Eastside had migrated there from outside Vancouver, up from 17% a decade ago.[42]
The 12th annual Homeless Count in Vancouver held in 2018 saw a 2% increase in homeless residents since the 2017 count, compared with a 16% increase between 2016 and 2017.[43] Of those counted in 2018, 659 were living on the street and 1,522 were living in shelters, compared to 537 street homeless and 1,601 sheltered in 2017.[43] Fifty-two per cent of those counted reported being homeless for less than a year, showing the fluidity of homelessness year over year in Vancouver, and in 2017, the Homelessness Service's Outreach Team secured 850 homes for residents who were homeless or at risk of homelessness.[43]
On February 25, 2009, Robertson announced the members of the Greenest City Action Team in support of his campaign promise to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world by 2020.[44][45] In April 2009, Robertson and the Greenest City Action Team released a report outlining quick-start recommendations to move aggressively on its green plan.[46] The report focused on three key areas: jobs and the economy, greener communities, and protecting human health.[44]
The Greenest City Action Plan (GCAP) was approved by the Vancouver City Council in 2011. The plan included 10 goals, including reduction of carbon emissions, development of the green economy, improvement in air and water quality, among others. Vancouver became the first city to regulate embodied carbon, and set a goal to eliminate fossil fuels and switch to 100% renewable energy by 2050.[47] In 2013, Vancouver was named as the Global Earth Hour Capital by the World Wildlife Fund in recognition of the city's "actions on climate change and dedication to create a sustainable, vibrant urban environment."[48] In 2016, Vancouver was recognized as the third greenest city in the world according to the Global Green Economy Index, behind only Copenhagen and Stockholm.[49]
As part of GCAP, Vancouver also focused on waste management by turning organic waste into compost material which was then sold to gardeners. The city captured methane at landfills to heat greenhouses.[50] Vancouver also became the first city in North America to heat homes using thermal energy extracted from sewage and wastewater, which reportedly reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 65% in the False Creek neighbourhood.[51] Another focus area of the GCAP was reducing emissions from buildings, a major source of greenhouse gases in Vancouver.[52] In 2016, the city introduced the Zero Emissions Building Plan with the aim to make all new constructions zero emissions buildings by 2030, while reducing emissions from existing buildings through the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources and the implementation of improved building envelopes.[53][54]
Transportation issues
Canada Line
Robertson was a strong supporter of Cambie Street merchants and spoke regularly about hardships from the Canada Line construction.[55] He called the handling of the rail line construction an "injustice".[56] On March 23, 2009, Robertson testified in a lawsuit brought by a Cambie Street plebiscite merchant in the B.C. Supreme Court regarding damage to her business from the construction,[55] a lawsuit for which the merchant was awarded $600,000 by the B.C. Supreme Court because in part there was insufficient action to mitigate the effects of Canada Line construction on Cambie Street merchants.[57] This decision was later appealed and overturned at the B.C. Court of Appeal on February 18, 2012.[58] On the Canada Line opening day of August 17, 2009, Robertson said Greater Vancouver needed more rapid transit but the Canada Line was a "great start" and that he was a "Johnny-come-lately" to the project.[59]
Toll proposal
On September 17, 2009, Robertson called for adding a toll to the Sea-to-Sky Highway, the primary driving route between Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, and to all major crossings of the Fraser River to help fund Translink.[60] British Columbia Minister of Transportation Shirley Bond dismissed the proposal by stating that the Province has no plans to add a toll to the Sea-to-Sky Highway, and that the Province was not contemplating a change in tolling strategy.[61]
Cycling and livability
Robertson and his team led the charge on cycling infrastructure, transforming Vancouver into one of the world's most livable cities.[62][3][63]
Cycling had been growing in popularity in Vancouver as it has all over the world and the desire of its citizens to cycle for at least some of their trips had been growing for decades however little was done before July 2009 when the Burrard Bridge bicycle lane trial was initiated to determine whether creating a new protected bike lane was a viable solution to increase the safety and comfort of people cycling and walking while still maintaining an effective flow of traffic.
During his mayorship, the city's flagship project was the Seaside Greenway, running from downtown Vancouver to Jericho Beach.[64] This active transportation corridor was created by repurposing one lane of automobile traffic from the Burrard Bridge as well as blocking through vehicular traffic from the prestigious Point Grey Road.[65]
Bylaw changes
In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in July 2009, the Vancouver Council approved several temporary bylaw changes—including security checkpoints, closed-circuit cameras, prohibition of "disturbance or nuisance interfering with the enjoyment of entertainment on city land by other persons", and prohibition of commercial flyers at celebration sites—which were controversial for some civil liberties advocates who argued that they "make it more difficult to exercise [the] fundamental constitutional rights to free speech, peaceful assembly and free expression."[66] As part of the changes city manager Penny Ballem, an unelected official, was given special powers that were referred to by Coalition of Progressive Electors councilor Ellen Woodsworth as "wide open carte blanche."[67] Robertson defended council's position, explaining the temporary bylaw changes were necessary given what Vancouver was required to implement as the host city. According to Robertson, "It is our ultimate obligation to ensure the safety and security of people who are in our city and this, I think, addresses a lot of the concerns proactively on that level while respecting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This is a temporary set of changes we're putting it in place for a special event."[68]
Robertson also implemented a bylaw in April 2014 that prevented homeowners from cutting trees down on their own private property.[69] The bylaw was proposed due to the rapid reduction in tree cover in the City of Vancouver.[citation needed]
Vancouver charter amendment
On January 12, 2009, Robertson requested an amendment to the Vancouver Charter to allow the city to borrow $458 million to fund the completion of the 2010 Olympic Village in False Creek without seeking approval from taxpayers in an election-day plebiscite.[70] Robertson said this was due to extraordinary circumstances.[70] The amendment was passed on January 18, 2009, in an emergency session of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.[71][72]
Vancouver Stanley Cup riot
On June 15, 2011, the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot occurred after a Vancouver Canucks loss in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Robertson attributed the situation to "a small group of troublemakers".[73] Bob Whitelaw, author of a report into the 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot, indicated that authorities had made several mistakes in the planning for the crowd—among them allowing parked cars near the screens and leaving newspaper boxes nearby which could be used as projectiles.[74] It was later claimed by Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu that Bob Whitelaw was not a contributor to the final report, and that all recommendations of the final report had been followed.[75] Robertson admitted to not having read the 1994 report.[76] Suzanne Anton dubbed the riot as "Robertson's Riot", a moniker which was picked up by some media outlets.[77][78][79][80]
Indigenous rights
In 2014, Vancouver declared itself to be the first "City of Reconciliation", summarizing the principles to reconcile with Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh indigenous communities. Robertson acknowledged that the city was on the unceded homelands of the First Nations. Robertson and Vancouver City Council established regular meetings with Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh councils to implement reconciliation actions jointly.[81]
Robertson and the city council strongly opposed the Trans Mountain pipeline and took legal action with the three nations in fighting against its development, traveling to Ottawa with the BC First Nations Chiefs to petition Federal leaders.[82]
In 2017, the city council permanently raised the flags of the three host nations in the council chambers for the first time in the city's history. They also donated a burial site back to the Musqueam community and protected the site from commercial development as part of their ongoing commitments as a "City of Reconciliation".[83]
During the 2013 Walk of Reconciliation, over 70,000 people marched with Robertson, City Council, and thousands of city leaders/organizations in heavy rain in support of indigenous rights, while the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was hosted by the city.[84][85]
Other investments
Between 2009 and 2011, the city exceeded its target of 300 childcare spaces by 153. And during his 2011 mayoral campaign, Robertson set a larger goal of setting up 500 affordable childcare spaces over the course of his second term. The budget surplus of $5 million in 2012 was partially invested into development of childcare spaces, the largest increase in childcare investment in Vancouver's history.[86] In 2014, the city announced that 599 spaces had been built or committed to since 2012, with a total investment of $62 million going into the plan.[87] By 2018, 1,064 additional childcare spaces had been committed in line with the 2015–2018 Capital Plan to create 1,000 new childcare spaces.[88]
In 2019, Robertson was appointed as the global ambassador of Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, the largest city alliance for climate leadership with over 13,000 cities worldwide tackling the climate crisis and energy challenges.[13]
In 2022, Robertson was named on Business Insider's inaugural Climate Action 30, a list of "30 top global leaders working toward climate solutions".[91]
Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships
In 2024, the Global Covenant of Mayors, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, appointed Robertson as a special envoy in the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP).[92]
Family and personal life
Robertson was married to Amy Oswald, whom he met at Colorado College,[93] and they have three children.[94] On July 5, 2014, the Robertsons announced their separation in a joint statement.[95][96]
Robertson reportedly dated singer Wanting Qu from January 2015 to May 2017.[97][96]
Robertson is currently married to Eileen Park Robertson, a journalist, filmmaker, communications professional and climate/racial justice advocate.[98][99] In 2020, they married at Stanley Park in Vancouver, paying tribute to their ancestral roots by wearing the Clan Robertson tartan and a Park family emblem.[100] When news of their interracial marriage was published in Vogue magazine, Eileen, a Korean-American, was targeted with racist and misogynist hate.[101] She spoke out about her personal experiences with racism while working in media and government.[99]
Robertson is a tuba player; he and his former MLA colleague Nicholas Simons performed on country-punk musician Slim Milkie's 2010 album Silverado.[102]
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