WINNIPEG – Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman calls it “a wave from the West” — a cohort of hip, western big-city mayors who have risen to power on plans to rid the cobwebs from city hall and re-make the level of government that is closest to the people.
“There’s a number of mayors that have brought in what I call new-generation leadership,” he says. “It’s really looking at a new way of thinking — long-term, more pragmatic, open and accessible and a little bit more technology literate.”
Here’s a look at some of the mayor’s in major western Canadian cities:
Brian Bowman — Winnipeg
Age: 43
Family: He and his wife, Tracy, have two children.
Elected: Oct. 22, 2014
Background: Bowman is Metis and is known for being the first indigenous mayor of a major Canadian city. He beat front-runner Judy Wasylycia-Leis, a former MP. Before being elected he was lawyer with a background in privacy law and social media.
Don Iveson — Edmonton
Age: 36
Family: He and his wife, Sarah Chan, have two young children.
Elected: Oct. 21, 2013
Background: Iveson was elected to city council in 2007 and took a run at the mayor’s job when Stephen Mandel announced he wouldn’t seek another term in office. Prior to politics he held positions in the student media with Canadian University Press and the Gateway at the University of Alberta.
Naheed Nenshi — Calgary
Age: 43
Family: Single.
Elected: Oct. 18, 2010
Background: Nenshi was heralded as the first Muslim mayor of a large North American city when he was elected five years ago. Prior to politics he was a professor in the field of non-profit management at Mount Royal University’s Bissett School of Business.
Gregor Robertson — Vancouver
Age: 50
Family: He and his wife, Amy, have four children.
Elected: Nov. 15, 2008
Background: Robertson co-founded Happy Planet, a Vancouver-based socially organic juice and natural foods company, before being elected to the provincial legislature as a New Democrat in 2005.
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