Pete Fry says the City’s budget will top his agenda after becoming Vancouver’s mayor

The Story

Vancouver voters have elected Green Party candidate Pete Fry as mayor, making him the first Green Party member elected to lead the city.

In an interview Tuesday, Fry said his immediate focus will be the start-up work for a “brand new council,” including getting members up to speed and working as a team. He also said he has requested a “fulsome budget” so council can make informed decisions and set priorities.

Fry said reversing what he described as bans on supportive housing and on supervised consumption sites would be among the key priorities. He also said he plans to work “assertively” on how the city manages community safety, adding that the issue affects businesses and tourism as well as people’s ability to walk in the city.

He said he wants the city to provide a different level of assistance for people who are unwell and unhoused, including access to daytime shelters and toilets, while acknowledging that there are jurisdictional issues.

Fry also discussed how he plans to work with the new council. He said Greens and COPE have had a “pretty good working relationship,” and referenced his relationship with COPE’s Sean Orr, adding that he intends to use a collaborative approach that prioritizes the City of Vancouver over partisan colours.

He said he is setting up meetings with OneCity’s Lucy Maloney and ABC’s Mike Klassen, describing Maloney as passionate about active transportation and cycling, and Klassen as someone he has known “longer than anyone on council,” with experience he plans to draw on from the past four years.

Asked about how public opinion will be considered once he takes office, Fry said local government is accessible and that council takes delegations and hears from public speakers, though he noted that it can involve long hours. He also said the council’s procedure changed after the pandemic to allow people to phone in rather than requiring in-person appearances at City Hall.

Fry said he has been a councillor for eight years and also served as a director on the Union of BC municipalities for eight years, describing that experience as showing the need for a local-government culture focused on improving local life rather than prioritizing party politics.

Fry said he is also waiting for plebiscite results expected Wednesday concerning strengthening laws around open-air drug use and advocating for additional involuntary care beds. He characterized the plebiscites as non-binding and said they are “a temperature check,” while also saying the province is committed to securing care beds and that public consumption of hard drugs remains illegal under federal law.

He said the city intends to deal with issues facing unhoused people “right off the top,” and that he intends to support the Vancouver Police Department while introducing proactive measures that do not necessarily involve policing.

Looking ahead to the provincial election, Fry said he has relationships with leaders across parties and is friendly with Emily Lowan, and that he plans to work collaboratively with whichever party forms government.

He said he wants the city to get results for people in Vancouver and in British Columbia, and that he will not treat the provincial government “as a punching bag.”