About Sam Sullivan
After being elected to Vancouver City Council in 1993, Sam served as a Councillor for 12 years before being elected Mayor in 2005. After accepting the Olympic Flag at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino and carrying the 2008 Olympic Torch in Beijing, he became one of the world's most recognized Mayors.
Sam has been an important part of bringing the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games to Vancouver. From the original discussions in 1996 to the final decisions on funding, venues, city management and the Athletes Village in Southeast False Creek - the largest and greenest housing development in North America.
Sam broke his neck while skiing at the age of 19 and is a quadriplegic. He is the founder of six non-profit organizations that have improved the lives of thousands of North Americans with disabilities. He is a recipient of Canada's highest honour - the Order of Canada - for community service on behalf of marginalized people. He has received the Terry Fox Award for national excellence and the Christopher Reeve Award for outstanding contributions to the community of people with spinal cord injury and other physical disabilities.
During his term as Mayor, Vancouver introduced innovative policies to reduce the City's impact on the environment, increase affordability of housing and improve the vitality of neighbourhoods through high quality densification (EcoDensity). He championed the completion of rapid transit to UBC and return of a Downtown Streetcar network.
To reduce crime and homelessness on Vancouver streets, Sam introduced Project Civil City to ensure a social legacy for the 2010 Games. The result is historic investments in social housing, double digit reductions in crime and expanded social services for people suffering from drug addiction and mental illness. He successfully advocated for the reopening of the Riverview mental health facility and the use of vacant city-owned land for social housing.
During his term, Sam also worked to reduce taxes on small business, increase investment for arts and culture and introduce a 311 information service to replace 550 municipal phone numbers with one that offers multilingual services 24 hours/day.
Sam obtained a Business Administration degree from Simon Fraser University and has taught himself the basics of several languages including Cantonese, Italian, French, Mandarin and Punjabi. He is an avid sailor and enjoys hiking.
A documentary of his 2005 Vancouver Mayoral campaign was nominated for a 2008 Gemini Award (Citizen Sam).
Greetings from Sam Sullivan
