Creating a better world starts in your home community, but to make a difference in your community, you have to understand how the political system works. Proof and point: the life of Sam Sullivan. Former mayor of Vancouver and founder of the Global Civic Policy Society, Sam has always worked to better his community and his world. After becoming paralyzed at the age of 19 in a skiing accident, he founded the Sam Sullivan Disability Foundation to help those with disabilities have a greater quality of life. His inventions are used globally, like the Trail Rider that helps people like Sam go hiking on trails like Berg Lake in Mount Robson Provincial Park. But when he wanted to create change on a bigger scale, Sam knew he had to run for office.
Sam served on Vancouver City council prior to becoming mayor, and also served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-False Creek with the political party now known as BC United. He’s been a provincial cabinet minister, and at both the municipal and provincial levels he has worked to advance innovative policies such as EcoDensity – championing urban density in order to help nature. In addition to being a proud green conservative, Sam has been made an Honourary Member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, an Honourary Major in the BC Regiment, is a Member of the Order of Canada and is the recipient of both the Christopher and Dana Reeve’s Award and the Terry Fox Award.
We joined Sam in the BC legislative library for a two-part interview – with the first half taking us on an in-depth journey into the inner workings of our political system, and the second half exploring Sam’s personal journey.
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What do you think?
- What can we learn from Sam’s strategic approach and advice about navigating the system?
- Did Sam give us insight into how we can be a better advocate and citizen?
- Do you see Sam as an independent thinker?
- Do we need more independent thinkers in politics? Or is that just not realistic with the party system we have?
- Understanding the system better, does it give you more faith that we can tackle the challenges we face? Or does it reinforce for you that it needs to be modernized to bring about change more quickly?