Vancouver’s longest-serving city councillor is calling it quits and says the conduct of the city’s mayor and his majority on council is a major part of why.
After 14 years and four terms, Green Coun. Adriane Carr officially tendered her resignation on Wednesday.
Carr said she’d been on the fence about the decision for a while, and made her final decision when Coun. Christine Boyle was elected to the provincial legislature, meaning the city would already be holding a byelection.
She told reporters Thursday that spending time with her family on the Sunshine Coast was a key part of the move, but so was friction with Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver council majority.
“I’ve come to the conclusion on the issues that really drive me, that drove me to run for office and have been predominant issues in my life around particularity sustainability and the health of this planet, I can’t make much progress,” Carr said.
“In addition, I have lost trust and confidence in the mayor, in my opinion. Some of his actions do not genuinely mesh with his mantra that we are all one team.”
Carr pointed to moves by ABC to scuttle her motions in council, the party’s attempts to reverse a ban on natural gas for cooking in new homes and to review the office of the integrity commissioner, and its decision to remove opposition councillors from appointments to Metro Vancouver as examples.
“This supermajority ABC Council has convinced me it’s better for democracy to have a mix of parties and councillors who are prepared to collaborate and cooperate with a goal of putting public interest first instead of a majority, and especially a supermajority that really doesn’t have to listen to any other opinions, that has the ability to push through whatever is on their agenda,” she said.
Carr and Boyle’s departure, for the time being, leave Green Coun. Pete Fry as the sole opposition voice at Vancouver city council.
Fry said he’s hoping the byelection will deliver some fresh faces to help keep a cheque on the governing majority.
“It has been a very partisan, I would say toxic environment,” Fry said.
“I think having more voices in opposition and holding this current admin accountable and advocating for transparency and good governance is important.”
Speaking to reporters after the announcement, ABC Coun. Mike Klassen downplayed divisions on council, pointing instead to legislation on which he and Carr had collaborated.
“Today is not a discussion around disagreement, it’s about celebrating the legacy of Coun. Carr,” ABC Coun. Mike Klassen said.
“Politics is tough, you don’t always get what you want, and so disagreements and going different directions is just part of the work. At the end of the day, I think we are all very invested in the city.”
Carr was first elected in 2011, scraping onto council in 10th place by a mere 90 votes. That changed in the following two municipal elections, where she became the top vote-getter on council.
An at times emotional Carr said she was proud of work to implement an UNDRIP action plan and to develop a climate emergency action plan while in municipal office.
She added she was proud to have helped spearhead and serve as leader of the B.C. Green Party, North America’s first, and to have helped Elizabeth May become the first federally elected Green.
She said she plans to write a book with her husband, and support the efforts to elect a new Green councillor. The Greens will also look to collaborate, rather than compete with the OneCity party in the upcoming vote, she said.
Vancouver city council is expected to formally trigger the byelection process at a meeting next week.
ABC Vancouver’s party president told Global News on Tuesday that several dozen people had already come forward with interest in running under the party’s banner.
Voting day is expected to be sometime this spring.