Despite attempts at being covert, it came as no surprise when Vision Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced his plans to run for re-election on November 15.

“I’ve been honoured to lead Vancouver over the past five years,” said Robertson at a telephone town hall at City Hall on Thursday. “I’m running for re-election because we need a Mayor with experience in business and government who can take our city to the next level.”

For Robertson that means focusing on homelessness, continuing his campaign for Vancouver to become “the greenest city in the world”, affordable housing, the building of the Broadway Subway — despite the need for a light rail plan in Surrey — and taking a strong stance against the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

“We are going to continue with our work fighting the Kinder Morgan pipeline,” said Robertson, “The Kinder Morgan pipeline is a huge threat to Vancouver’s success. Our economy and our environment are at great risk if there is an oil spill in our harbour.”

Robertson also talked about the risk the pipeline has on jobs and the economy of the pipeline:

Following his last six years in office, the main objective for Robertson is to prevent Vision’s primary opponents, the Non-Partisan Association, from undoing his party’s achievements.

“They don’t understand modern-day Vancouver,” said Robertson of the NPA, “They’ve been against affordable housing, against the greenest city plan. The only thing they appear to be for is more oil tankers in Vancouver’s harbour.”

Robertson will also be hosting a policy conference on Sunday as the efforts to reach thousands of residents over the next coming months becomes a priority. “We’ve got six and a half months to the election and we’re gearing up to build on the success of our last five years,” said Robertson.

Originally posted on Vancity Buzz