Mayor Gregor Robertson used his inauguration speech Monday to recommit to his ongoing agenda to end street homelessness, get a Broadway subway built and create more affordable housing.
The mayor outlined his priorities for his next four years inside a gymnasium at the Creekside Community Centre, where he and 10 city councillors were officially sworn in to office after being elected Nov. 15.
"There is no challenge that is closer to my heart, that has a greater claim on our moral determination, than ending street homelessness," Robertson told the crowd of about 300 people that included members of his family, police officers, firefighters, MLAs and Attorney General Suzanne Anton.
Robertson, who has promised to end street homelessness by 2015, said the commitment he made in 2008 to move people off the street isn't "an aspiration or a rhetorical flourish."
"In a city as wealthy as Vancouver, it's a non-negotiable responsibility for every one of us," he said to applause.
Robertson told reporters after his speech that four new B.C. Housing buildings are expected to open over the winter, providing about 400 units of social housing. But the mayor said he won't know whether he's met his goal of ending street homeless until a count in March.
A homeless count conducted this past March recorded 536 people living on the street. In October, the city’s housing director Mukhtar Latif said in a court document related to the Oppenheimer tent city that about 200 of those 536 people had been housed in temporary housing.
Robertson’s inauguration comes the same week that he and other mayors from around the region are expected to vote on a question for next spring's transit referendum.
The provincial government said the referendum is necessary because the mayors require new funding sources such as an increases to the carbon tax and provincial sales tax to pay for a 10-year transit plan that will cost $7.5 billion.
Robertson, who is on record of opposing the referendum, said there was no point in debating the fairness of the referendum "that road construction never seems to require."
"It's coming," he said. "And it means our city and our region face a critical moment. I will work with mayors throughout the region to build public support for better transit. And I want to be able to count on the support of every member of our council for a yes vote."
During the election campaign, the mayor committed to building 4,000 rental units of affordable housing and spend $400,000 to double the amount of money dedicated to the Vancouver School Board's breakfast program.
He referred to the promises in his speech, saying families renting homes in Vancouver "deserve a better option than paying palace-sized rents for a postage stamp apartment" and that feeding vulnerable kids every morning was "crucial."
He said Vancouver's "innovation economy" of companies in technology, start-ups, digital media and medical research is taking off, describing them as "world-beating companies." He stressed the importance on continuing to support "clean energy and green technologies," saying his council will continue to oppose Kinder Morgan's plans to build another pipeline to the West Coast, which would see an increase in oil tankers in Vancouver waters.
In a move to better relations with the city’s other political parties, Robertson also credited the Green Party, COPE and the NPA for their campaigns of innovative ideas and the need to improve transparency at city hall.
In talking about leadership, the mayor mentioned late NHL hockey boss Pat Quinn as someone who "gave his all to build a winning team — in good seasons and tough ones." He said "we will need that spirit in the next four years more than any time in our past."
The inauguration ceremony opened with a welcoming from First Nations leaders, featured Juno Award-winning musician Dan Mangan and a ceremonial lion dance in which Chinese tradition had Robertson launch lettuce into the crowd to symbolize a fresh start and the spreading of good luck.
Robertson, who wore a ceremonial Scottish kilt for a third consecutive inauguration, opened and closed his speech with a few words in Tagalog, Mandarin and Punjabi.
The bill for the inauguration will come in around $14,000, according to the city. The first meeting of the new council occurred Monday night. The only new council member this term is the NPA’s Melissa De Genova, a former park board commissioner.
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