Vancouver's Olympic mayor Gregor Robertson tries to boost his profile

by Charlie Smith on February 22nd, 2010 at 12:28 PM

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A while ago, I wrote a blog post noting that Premier Gordon Campbell had muscled aside Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson in attracting Olympic-related publicity.

The premier's media handlers have been quick to distribute pictures of the boss to various newspapers.

Now, it appears that the mayor is fighting back. If you go to the city's Web site, you'll find a new page dedicated to the "Green Mayor", as he puts it.

There are also tons of Olympic-related photos of Robertson.

Robertson's use of city tax dollars to promote himself in this way reminds me of how Campbell rejigged the B.C. government Web site after taking power.

It was an early clue that Campbell would try to create a taxpayer-financed cult of personality around himself. This carried on through the 2009 election campaign, which was financed by B.C. Liberal donors, and into the Olympic torch relay, which was financed by the Royal Bank and Coca-Cola.

However, there's a difference between civic politics, where the mayor has one vote among 11, and provincial politics, where the premier has nearly absolute power.

Somehow, it doesn't seem fair that Robertson should get to glorify himself to such a degree in this way whereas the councillors—who work just as hard and who are paid less than half his salary—don't get their own pages full of photographs on the city's Web site.

But will any of them have the guts to raise this at the next council meeting? I'm betting the answer is "no".

It's worth noting that Mayor Robertson has a video on his page on the city's site about creating a green economy. A former television news reporter, Robin Adair, was hired last year to oversee the city's communications efforts. It's not a stretch to suggest that Adair, who is also a former B.C. Liberal candidate in Saanich South, might have had a say in this video's production values.

Compare it to this more poorly produced video of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, who has expressed a similar desire to create a green economy.

(Vancouver's deputy city manager, Sadhu Johnston was recruited from Chicago's civic government, where he helped Daley enhance his reputation as a greenish politician.)

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

Comments

4 Comments

ds

Feb 22, 2010 at 3:20pm

is there anything on this sight about riding his bike or on rainny days taking sky train for nothing? ha ha good old tax payers dollars at work.

RMurphy

Feb 22, 2010 at 8:06pm

Yet another politician seeking to advance his own career and prop up his overinflated ego instead of doing the job he was hired to do... Robertson is such a hack. Will we ever get a politician that actually takes a job to do that job or will we be forever cursed with these glad handing hypocrites and liars? Harper auctions off the nation, Campbell sells the province off piece by piece and Robertson chases after the media spotlight at the taxpayers expense... While we murder innocents in Afghanistan, destroy our provincial health care and education programs at home , and continue to allow Vancouver's homeless to die in the streets, these three stooges play at being more than the narcissistic pricks that they are. I just wish we could lay all the blame at their feet, but during this time of Corporate Olympic Pageantry, we the apathetic masses, who have infinite energy to play games and party, can't even find the time to educate ourselves and become socially active. As we waste our days on this planet, consuming and destroying without purpose, striving not to end War or poverty but to purchase a new flat screen TV, we have none but ourselves to blame as the ship we're on begins to sink below the waves of our collective apathy. Wake up Sheeple! If you can't do it for yourselves then do it for your children, for the future generations that'll be left to deal with the waste and mess that we leave behind. Shame on us... we could be so much better than the self indulgent children that we've become. The energy and cash that we throw at these empty games and these vapid politicians is beyond sickening, we are allowing our children's inheritance to be sold off to the highest bidder! Enjoy your 2010 corporate games fellow Vancouverites, you deserve them! When your children ask you what happened to their health care, school system, clean air and water, just make sure to tell them you're sorry, but the games were a great party. I'm sure they'll understand.

Mayor Green?

Feb 23, 2010 at 5:55pm

Someone who is Green would have taken offense to the way that TransLink pushes its way into neighbourhoods to operate diesel buses on trolley bus routes without even asking. The Mayor doesn't do anything about the use of diesel buses on trolley bus routes, because as TransLink correctly points out, nothing is done in Vancovuer without the full collaboration of the Minister of Transportation and the COV, in other words, Mayor Robertson.

Robertson isn't Green. He is a glory seeker with his eyes on Campbell's job.