‘Thank you’: Vancouver’s longest serving city councillor resigns

Vancouver's longest-serving city councillor resigned Wednesday, saying she could no longer make progress on council.

Vancouver’s longest serving city councillor handed in her resignation letter Wednesday.

Green Coun. Adriane Carr called it a “momentous day,” as she reflected on her 40-year political career, 14 of those as a city councillor. She first ran in a civic election in 2011, where she won by 90 votes.

“Thank you to every voter who has voted for me since then,” she said. “For placing your trust in me, your confidence. To work on your behalf for a better city, that has been my mission.”

Political journey

Carr spent four terms on council, solidifying her popularity in 2014 and in 2018 when she was re-elected at the top of the polls. Prior to municipal politics, she co-founded the Green Party of BC in 1983 with her husband, Paul George. Seventeen years later, she became the party’s leader.

She credited one of her mentor’s Bob Brown, a founder of the Australian Green Party, with imparting this wisdom on her.

“He said to me, ‘Adriane, you know, most politicians will do what it takes to get re-elected. Greens do what it takes to put a smile on the face of our children.’” she said.

Carr said she was drawn to municipal politics to focus on two issues – addressing the housing and climate crises. During her 14-year tenure, she consistently tabled motions, such as Advancing Congestion Pricing as a Regional Priority, and having staff report back on the 2025 budget, with options to recoup the taxpayer-funded costs of mitigating, repairing and adapting to climate change.

One of her proudest motions, she said, was in 2018, when she tabled the Vancouver Plan, a land-use plan to create a more livable, affordable, and sustainable city.

Loss of ‘trust and confidence’ in mayor

While she’s been mulling her retirement since the fall, citing the need to spend more time with family, she said a recent in-camera meeting, solidified her plan to resign.

“I cannot talk about conduct in-camera, but I want people to know that incidents that occurred recently in in-camera meetings were the tipping point in my decision,” she said. “I think fellow councillors and staff who were in the room at the time will know what I’m talking about and understand my position.”

Carr added, that the issues that are most important to her such as housing affordability and sustainability, are ones she feels can no longer make progress on in her role as a city councillor. “I have lost trust and confidence in the mayor,” she said. “In my opinion, some of his actions do not genuinely mesh with his mantra that we are all one team.”

In October, Carr and Green Coun. Pete Fry were removed from city-appointed roles, and replaced with their ABC opposition members.

At Wednesday’s announcement, the only opposition councillor in attendance was Mike Klassen. When asked about the friction, he said, “politics is tough. You don’t always get what you want.”

Two seats to fill in byelection

Carr’s vacancy leaves two open seats in the spring by-election – following One City’s Christine Boyle election as an NDP MLA in October.

Fry lamented the loss of his colleague, calling her a mentor and the reason he got into municipal politics. He said it will be a lonely few months as the sole opposition councillor until the election occurs.

“It’s been a very partisan – I would say toxic – environment,” he said. “So that’s not going to change with the outcome of this by-election.”

UBC political scientist Stewart Prest thinks the election could be a referendum on Sim’s leadership.

“If we consistently have a council that’s completely out of step with where Vancouverites are, that can really create pressure for change much greater than what we’re seeing now and we only need to look at the federal scene,” he said.

Carr said she plans to keep busy by spending time with her family, and writing a book with her husband about their experiences in growing green politics.