Quote:
Originally Posted by whatnext
Remember former Mayor (now Senator) Larry Campbell?
[I]Former Vancouver mayor tapped to turn around troubled Downtown Eastside
Larry Campbell says desperately needed housing will be key to bringing change to the neighbourhood
Author of the article: Denise Ryan
Published Sep 29, 2025
Can former senator and ex-Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell turn things around in the city’s Downtown Eastside?
On Monday, Campbell publicly accepted a six-month appointment as adviser to the province aimed at finding solutions and improving the lives of people in the neighbourhood.
|
Wow, that's a hard nut to crack. Will there ever be a solution? Who knows.
But what I like about Larry Campbell - at least back in the day when he was Vancouver mayor (no idea if being a Senator has changed his perspective) is that he was an outsider with a non-political background, who came in with fresh eyes and no partisan loyalties, and just attacked the problems at hand without care of loyalty to special interest groups, parties, or donators. This was great at getting things done (remember how he got the Canada Line approved and the Olympic Village development approved, all after years of talk and studies and consultants and stalls, in time for the 2010 Olympics?)
I'm in no way saying he was or is perfect, or that his political past was without criticism (nobody's is, so let's not get distracted with litigating his faults), but the important thing is that he left the city with projects completed that would not have got started without his unwavering push.
Hopefully he can do the same with this DTES appointment. Like I said, this is a very hard nut to crack. I just hope now he's a Senator he has more sway at both provincial and federal levels to get permanent and sustainable infrastructure investment and change, so that the DTES doesn't just become a news story for the length of somebody's election campaign, but a permanently repaired community.
Threaded Mode