As a
result of his limited participation in electoral debates and media interviews,
I think most Vancouverites do not really know a lot about Mayor Gregor
Robertson's views on most issues other than bike lanes and being green. Photo
Michael Geller
I will
never forget the first time I met Sam Davis, a former mayor of Saint John, New
Brunswick. I had just been introduced to him as the new federal government
project manager for his city’s Market Square Project when he looked at me and
said “10D.”
“I beg
your pardon” I replied.
“10D,
that’s your shoe size. I used to be in the shoe business.”
I have
not forgotten the first time I met Gregor Robertson. He had
just won the Vision mayoral contest and a mutual friend invited us to meet over
breakfast at Paul’s Omelettery on Granville Street. I have no recollection of
what we discussed, but I remember what he ate.
While my
friend and I ordered omelettes, the future mayor ordered pancakes with whipped
cream and fruit. But first he enquired whether the fruit was fresh. The server
returned to say the fruit had been frozen, but he ordered it anyway.
Subsequently,
I have run into the mayor at various occasions and found him to be a pleasant
person, but cannot say I have gotten to know him.
Media
acquaintances who have often interviewed him over the past six years have told
me the same thing. Despite their interactions, they, too, do not feel they know
him at all.
I first
met Robertson’s opponent Kirk LaPointe at his summer NPA mayoral announcement.
We have subsequently been together on a few occasions. I attended a session he
organized to discuss housing affordability with neighbourhood planning and
housing experts, and one of the many breakfast meetings being arranged so
others can get to know him.
I invited
him to speak to a lunchtime discussion group I belong to — the Vancouver
Roundtable — which has been meeting every Tuesday since 1926. Yes, 1926! There
he did not need to be introduced. He knew most of the people in the room.
I greatly
enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink and like many of the characters in the
book, think I can generally assess situations and people from first
impressions. However Kirk LaPointe is not so easy to typecast.
My first
impression was of an intelligent, urbane guy who probably grew up in an
affluent neighbourhood. I subsequently learned he is quite cerebral but was not
born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was raised by a single mother and did
not meet a brother who was put up for adoption until later in life.
I was
also surprised to learn he coaches girls’ softball, which did not quite fit
with my first impression. I should add this was a pleasant surprise.
Just
prior to our recent breakfast meeting I heard Bruce Allen ranting about bicycle
lanes and asked LaPointe if he knew Allen. “Quite well” he replied. “I met him
when I was writing for Billboard Magazine.”
It turns
out he was Canadian editor of Billboard in 1983 and stayed for eight years,
reporting weekly on the music industry. I did not ask if he played the tuba,
but somehow doubt it.
While
Vancouver media may not feel they know Gregor Robertson, they know Kirk
LaPointe. After all, many worked for him when he was managing editor of the
Vancouver Sun. Others
know him from CTV where he was senior vice-president, news or the CBC where he
was host on Newsworld in the early ‘90s, and more recently the network’s
ombudsman.
Given his
very impressive background in Canadian media and other activities, one of the
questions LaPointe is often asked is why he decided to enter politics. He
responds that politicians and the media have much in common in that they both
want to change society. They just go about it in different ways.
Moreover,
many media personalities have gone on to be very successful politicians
including Rene Levesque, Ralph Klein and Winston Churchill.
I am sure
we will all learn much more about Kirk LaPointe in the coming months. Hopefully
we will also learn a more about Gregor Robertson. But first we need to end the
school strike which unfortunately, but quite rightly, is dominating the news.
©
Vancouver Courier
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