37 Facts About Sam Sullivan

Sam C Sullivan was born on November 13,1959 and is a Canadian politician who served as the MLA for Vancouver-False Creek.

Sam Sullivan is currently President of the Global Civic Policy Society and an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Sam Sullivan was born on November 13,1959, to East Vancouver residents Lloyd and Ida Sullivan.

Sam Sullivan's father ran Sully's Autoparts on East Hastings Street.

Sam Sullivan has three brothers, Donald, Patrick, Terry, and a sister, Carol.

Sam Sullivan became paralyzed after breaking his neck in a skiing accident at age 19.

Sam Sullivan had a fracture dislocation of his fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae, leaving him almost completely paralyzed.

Sam Sullivan later founded six non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life for disabled people in North America.

In 2005, Sam Sullivan was inducted into the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian award for community achievement.

In recognition of these achievements, Sam Sullivan was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 2000 and won the Christopher Reeve Award in 2008.

Sam Sullivan was first elected to Vancouver City Council in 1993 as a member of the Non-Partisan Association, and served for 15 years total.

In Vancouver's 2002 general local elections, Sam Sullivan was the only incumbent member of city council from the NPA to win re-election after the NPA-dominated council was defeated by the COPE party, leaving only five out of 27 seats on the council, school board and parks board.

Sam Sullivan then led the party to electoral majorities on the City Council, School Board and Park Board with 17 out of 27 seats.

On May 2,2006, Sam Sullivan provided a statement to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about his past decisions to provide money to illegal drug users.

Sam Sullivan's statement gave a brief account of his decision to provide financial support to a 20-year-old woman working as a prostitute in his neighbourhood in the late 1990s, by providing $40 a day for three weeks for heroin.

Sam Sullivan gave money to a severely addicted crack cocaine user so he did not have to steal, and let him smoke in his van.

Sam Sullivan defeated Green by a narrow margin of 3,747 votes of 130,000 ballots cast.

Speculation that James Green was a "spoiler" candidate was inflamed when it became known that Sam Sullivan had helped Green in a dispute about office space.

Sam Sullivan took part in the Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics, in the ceremony where the Olympic Flag was passed from Turin to Vancouver.

Sam Sullivan then swung his wheelchair back and forth eight times to wave the flag.

Shortly after the World Urban Forum held in Vancouver in June 2006, Sam Sullivan launched the EcoDensity initiative.

Sam Sullivan claimed higher densities and smaller ecological footprints were necessary to sustain a growing population.

Sam Sullivan conducted an informal survey on his website asking visitors how they felt about civil disorder in the City of Vancouver.

Sam Sullivan formed a group called Inner Change which raised several million dollars to support the SALOME drug trials.

Critics accused of Sam Sullivan of misusing political donations when $5000 raised for the Knowards campaign through the Nanitch Policy Society was used to buy tickets for campaign volunteers at a 2004 NPA dinner.

In 2008, although the NPA board had greenlighted Sam Sullivan to run for mayor and he had the endorsement of all NPA City Councillors, NPA councillor Peter Ladner announced that he wanted to challenge Sam Sullivan for mayor.

In November 2009, Sam Sullivan formed the Global Civic Policy Society with a $500,000 startup grant from the Annenberg Foundation of California.

In February 2011, Sam Sullivan founded the Centre for Fourth Wave Reform to explore ideas for change in municipal governance.

Sam Sullivan is trying to promote the revival of Chinook Jargon, the aboriginal trade language once widely used in British Columbia.

Sam Sullivan has published and translated several videos of aboriginal elders speaking Chinook Wawa.

In June 2012, Sam Sullivan began hiring individuals and later recruiting volunteers to transcribe handwritten Vancouver City Council Minutes from 1886 to 1891.

In January 2016, Sam Sullivan began publishing Kumtuks, a Chinook Jargon word meaning "knowledge".

In November 2012, Sam Sullivan announced he would seek the BC Liberal Party nomination in Vancouver-False Creek after the current incumbent Mary McNeil said she would not be seeking a second term in the 2013 British Columbia general election.

Sam Sullivan went on to win the election, receiving 11,328 votes, with the NDP candidate Matt Toner receiving 7,981 votes.

Sam Sullivan was re-elected in the 2017 election as MLA for Vancouver False Creek, but only after a recount.

Sam Sullivan's first move was to scrap the requirement for a referendum on Transit funding.

Sam Sullivan announced on September 21,2017, that he was seeking the leadership of the BC Liberal Party.