Ladner Looks for Solutions

Peter Ladner says he wants to put the non-partisan back in the NPA.

“I'm more of a consensus builder than (Mayor Sam Sullivan),” said Ladner, a two-term councillor who is running for the party's mayoral nomination because he fears Sullivan can't win. The party votes Sunday.“Sam tends to be very partisan, political and divisive on things ... I want to focus on solutions, not political points.”

Ladner, 59, who is married with four children, said he wants to make Vancouver the safest, greenest, most affordable and globally competitive city in the country.

“I think on the general issues,” Ladner said, “you'll find that Sam and I and the Vision candidates are very much alike. There are a lot of similar solutions that we all know are required.”

Among his priorities is increased spending on mental health and addiction treatment, a national and provincial investment in social housing and a revision of federal tax laws to encourage the development of market rental housing.

Ladner is also a proponent of retrofitting buildings to make them more energy efficient and decreasing the number of single-driver cars through increased transit and a bike-sharing program, similar to one in Paris.

-jeff.hodson@metronews.ca