Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart to officially seek re-election in 2022

He’s been in office for just over one year, but Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart isn’t wasting any time sharing the plans for his future.

On Friday, Stewart released a statement confirming that he’ll officially seek re-election during the next municipal election – in 2022.

“I’m not in this for the short haul,” he said. “Our challenges are not short-term and I’m not a short-term kind of guy.”

Stewart said he’s planning to run again because he’s “not yet satisfied with what we’ve accomplished.”

Stewart, who was the NDP MP for Burnaby-South for seven years before resigning his seat to run in last year’s election, said that both experiences have taught him that one can’t think about challenges – such as housing, the overdose crisis, and transportation – “in short-term chunks.”

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Stewart said the city needs to “build more partnerships, secure more investments, and give more hope to people who are struggling to get by.”

While he said his first year as mayor has “been a good start” towards achieving his goals, Stewart added that “there is so much more to do.”

The mayor said that as he and council “keep working on making Vancouver a city that works for everyone, I hope you’ll stand with me as we head to 2022 and beyond.”