By Sam Sullivan, Special to the Sun March 26, 2012,Vancouver Sun I usually agree with Gordon Gibson, but not with his suggestion that Vancouver should just say no to growth and let him live a quiet life. In the 1880s Canada decided to make Vancouver its “terminal city.” A monumentally expensive railway was built which [...]
Reflections of a Former Mayor
On Being Asked to Comment on Jim Green…
I have received a number of requests asking for a statement about Jim Green. He was a great leader, a great citizen and he profoundly influenced the direction of the city. The following article gives just one example of why I believe this is so: Form Follows Function Abraham Rogatnick was a dear friend and [...]
On Hearing of the Death of Tom Campbell…..
On Hearing of the Death of Tom Campbell….. Environmental concerns lead many to believe that the ideal city should have a very high density core with pockets of high density throughout the surrounding suburbs. I discovered that this ideal was exactly the city we were achieving many years ago. In the 1960s the neighborhood of [...]
The Fourth Wave of Urban Reform
Canada has seen three waves of urban reform sweep the nation. The first saw the formal establishment of cities as self-governing corporations as a way to manage local unrest after the Rebellion of 1837. The Canadian Confederation placed cities firmly under the control of provincial governments which would lead them to become the fiscally weakest [...]
The City We Want
What is the form of the ideal city? If the goal is to reduce our impact on the environment the answer would seem to be a very high density urban core surrounded by much lower densities punctuated by points or corridors of higher density. This form results in the best outcomes for greenhouse gas emissions [...]
February 1 Public Salon recap
Nearly 500 guests attended the February 1 Public Salon, the largest turnout to date. Niamh Scallan, a freelance journalist, writes about the evening’s speakers. Videos will be posted soon. Public Salon with Sam Sullivan By Niamh Scallan It was a chilly February evening when Vancouverites came together for the first Public Salon of 2011. Before [...]
November 3 Public Salon Recap
Tsawwassen First Nations Chief Kim Baird speaking at the Public Salon We had another great turnout at our November 3 Public Salon. Ryan Going, a student at Douglas College, was in attendance and provides us with a summary of the evening’s speakers and their topics. We will post videos as soon as they become available. [...]
Kudos to Cadieux
Almost unnoticed amongst the recent news items emanating from Victoria was a watershed event for people with disabilities. Stephanie Cadieux became the first wheelchair user to become a Cabinet Minister in BC history. Stephanie has been a dignified, levelheaded, consensus building advocate for people with disabilities and healthier communities for many years both at the [...]
September 23 Public Salon recap
Artist Ken Lum speaking at the Public Salon We had a great turnout for our sixth Public Salon, including Jessica Linzey who was also in attendance. She’s written an excellent summary of the evening, which I’m sharing below… September 23rd Public Salon recap By Jessica Linzey On the evening of September 23rd, Vancouverites poured into [...]
June 9 Public Salon follow-up
THANK YOU EVERYONE who joined us for our first Public Salon at the Playhouse Theatre. We apologize to the people who were turned away at the door. Although we sold out all of the tickets we were able to seat many who wanted to buy tickets at the door by giving tickets from the Will [...]
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Subscribe to this blog's feed via RSS.About Sam Sullivan
Sam Sullivan is the founder of the Global Civic Policy Society and a recipient of Canada's highest award for community contribution--the Order of Canada. He is the host of a 1/2 hour television program called Sam Sullivan's Public Salon which is a forum for disseminating the ideas of community leaders from a broad array of backgrounds.
Sullivan founded the Greeting Fluency Initiative which uses language to increase intercultural understanding and respect and provides the Greeting Fluency Aid smart phone app free of charge to the public. His Centre for Fourth Wave Urban Reform explores ideas to improve local government. He is also Adjunct Professor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
Sam Sullivan has served for 12 years as Vancouver City Councillor and 3 years as Mayor of Vancouver. His EcoDensity Initiative was awarded the Canadian Planner's Institute 2009 highest award for City Planning. His Project Civil City saw the largest commitment to new and converted social housing in Vancouver for 40 years as well as the establishment of the Street to Home Foundation. In 2010 he became the only Mayor in history to be made an Honourary Member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada on account of his "work on behalf of underserved inner-city populations". He formed the Inner Change Society which was instrumental in the establishment of the SALOME maintenance and substitution research trials for those with drug addictions.
When Sam Sullivan was 19 years of age, he broke his neck in a skiing accident and became a quadriplegic. He devoted himself to developing programs to assist disabled to achieve quality of life. He commissioned the creation of the Martin 16 sailboat and developed a network of 20 sailing programs for people with disabilities across Canada and beyond. He coinvented the TrailRider to enable wilderness access and established programs for quality of life in activities such as music, gliding and gardening. He founded the Tetra Society which provides volunteer made assistive devices through 45 chapters across North America. The Sam Sullivan Disability Foundation has raised $20 million and served 10,000 people with disabilities since its inception. Sullivan is a recipient of the Terry Fox and Christopher Reeves Awards for service as well as the Peter Drucker Award for nonprofit excellence. Read more...