Vancouver's first Green mayor Pete Fry sworn in, pledging listening and collaboration in a council with no majority

Pete Fry, Vancouver's first Green Party mayor, was sworn in on November 2. According to the Vancouver Sun and Daily Hive, Fry took the oath at an inauguration ceremony at the city's Orpheum Theatre, along with the 10 new city councillors; the ceremony was presided over by Judge Reginald Harris and incorporated cultural elements from the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. (Cover photo is a file photo of Vancouver City Hall, not the inauguration.)

Inaugural speech: listen, collaborate, stay at the table

Fry's inaugural speech stressed listening and collaboration. He said: 'I may be mayor, but I'm also a neighbour, and being a good neighbour means listening carefully. It means showing up. It means working through difficult conversations, and staying at the table, even when things get complicated.' It was a theme he repeated throughout this year's campaign; he defeated incumbent ABC mayor Ken Sim in the October 17 election to become Vancouver's 42nd mayor.

New council: four parties, no majority

The new 11-seat council spans four parties, with no party holding a majority: the Greens hold five seats including Fry (councillors Annette Reilly, Stephanie Smith, Camil Dumont and Bridget Burns), COPE four (Sean Orr, Chloe Leslie, Devyani Singh and Solomon Yi-Kieran), OneCity one (Lucy Maloney), and ABC just one (Mike Klassen). The council's first public meeting was scheduled for inauguration evening at City Hall, where members were expected to approve Fry's recommendations for key statutory positions, including Orr as the term's first deputy mayor.

First tasks: budget and infrastructure for the most vulnerable

Asked what comes first, Fry said he will work to table a new budget and prioritise infrastructure for the city's most vulnerable people. 'Low-hanging fruit' he floated during the campaign included reversing ABC's freeze on new supportive housing imposed last year, restoring the city's previous ban on natural gas heating in new buildings that ABC lifted earlier this year, and reopening the renter's office at City Hall that ABC shuttered in 2023; whether those move quickly will be an early test for the new council.