Justin Trudeau’s visit to Vancouver city hall is the first by a sitting Prime Minister since 1973.
VANCOUVER – Justin Trudeau met Gregor Robertson at city hall Thursday morning — the first time a sitting Prime Minister has met there with a Vancouver mayor since his father, Pierre Trudeau, met Art Phillips in 1973.
Vancouverites lined up in the rain to catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister, while inside, a packed city hall included the chiefs of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, several Vancouver city councillors, as well as Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and local MP Joyce Murray.
In a news conference that provided very little actual news, the federal and municipal leaders expressed their mutual respect and intention to co-operate on issues from housing to transit, marijuana distribution to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.
Trudeau said that Canada needed different levels of government working together in respect and that Robertson stood out among municipal leaders, “as strong an advocate for Vancouver as I have seen in the country.”
Presenting the Prime Minister with a framed photograph of Pierre Trudeau’s visit — when he signed over the Jericho Lands from federal to municipal ownership — Robertson said that it was “refreshing to have a partner in Ottawa that treats cities with respect.”
