VANCOUVER – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s looking forward to working with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson on expanding transit infrastructure, improving housing affordability and tackling the deadly opioid crisis.
But Trudeau declined to say whether the two planned to broach the sensitive topic of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion ahead of a meeting today.
Trudeau’s government approved Kinder Morgan’s $7.4-billion proposal last November despite Robertson’s stalwart opposition to the project, which would result in a seven-fold increase in tanker traffic in the waters off Vancouver.
Robertson and Trudeau have had a friendly rapport, but the mayor has said he was “profoundly disappointed” by the federal government’s decision, calling it a “big step backwards” for Canada’s environment and economy.
Robertson and Trudeau also spoke about the opioid crisis with Robertson calling on provinces to do more. “So we know how big this crisis is, how many people are dying in real time in cities across Canada and we need that direct involvement from provinces in the addictions treatment.”
Trudeau was in the B.C. Interior on Monday to survey the damage caused by , where almost 50,000 people were from their homes at the peak of the crisis.
The prime minister also spoke at a $1,000-a-plate Liberal fundraising dinner in Surrey on Monday, where he urged the crowd of about 250 people to donate to the Canadian Red Cross to help those displaced by wildfires.
With files from Jeremy Lye