Mayor Sam Sullivan's Position on The Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium

On Thursday, May 8, Friends of Soccer invited the six potential major candidates for Vancouver Mayor to use its website to state their position on the Whitecaps Stadium. We have promised to publish their statements in their entirety, unedited and without commentary. We have no intention of endorsing any particular mayoral candidate.

Today, Mayor Sam Sullivan of the Non-Partisan Association responded to our invitation. His campaign's website is www.samsullivan.ca .

Dear Bill,

Thank you for your recent invitation from the Friends of Soccer to comment on the construction of a new soccer stadium on Vancouver's waterfront. I appreciate you taking the time to contact me.

As your Mayor, I am completely supportive of this initiative. In
addition to personally championing the stadium during several meetings in Ottawa, I have encouraged Council and city staff to expedite our approval process once the negotiations between the Port and Whitecaps are complete.

Prior to this recent round of negotiations, our government expressed our openness to constructing a new soccer stadium on City owned land outside the downtown core. However, the Whitecaps preferred a waterfront location.

Building a new privately funded soccer stadium is entirely dependent on a complex negotiation between the federally controlled Port of Vancouver and the Whitecaps.

While I share the frustration of many fans, I am hopeful that these negotiations will prove fruitful and that this proposal can come back to Council for approval in short order.

I trust this addresses the issues you have raised and thank you again for your advocacy on this important issue for our city's future.

Sam Sullivan
Mayor