Larry Campbell
{{Short description|Canadian politician (born 1948)}}
{{About|the Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2025}}
{{multiple issues|
{{BLP sources|date=March 2010}}
{{original research|date=February 2019}}
}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Larry Campbell
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Larry Campbell (2714953856).jpg
| imagesize =
| smallimage =
| caption = Campbell in 2009
| order =
| office1 = Canadian Senator
from British Columbia
| term_start1 = August 2, 2005
| nominator1 = Paul Martin
| appointed1 = Adrienne Clarkson
| term_end1 = February 28, 2023
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| office2 = 37th Mayor of Vancouver
| term_start2 = 2002
| term_end2 = December 5, 2005
| predecessor2 = Philip Owen
| successor2 = Sam Sullivan
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1948|2|28}}
| birth_place = Brantford, Ontario, Canada
| party = Non-affiliated (since 2022)
| otherparty = {{Unbulleted list|COPE (2002–2005)|Vision Vancouver (2005)|Liberal (2005–2014)|Senate Liberal Caucus
(2014–2016)|Independent Senators Group (2017–2019)|Canadian Senators Group (2019–2022)}}
| spouse =
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Politician, RCMP, BC Coroner's Service
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Larry W. Campbell (born February 28, 1948) is a Canadian politician who was the 37th mayor of Vancouver, Canada, from 2002 until 2005, and a member of the Senate of Canada from 2005 until his retirement in 2023.
Before he was mayor, Campbell worked for the RCMP as a police officer, and in 1969, he was transferred to the Vancouver detachment.[http://www.larrycampbell.ca/biography.shtml Biography], larrycampbell.coa From 1973, he served as a member of the force's drug squad.
Starting in 1981, Campbell worked for the Vancouver District Coroner's office and in 1996 was appointed BC Chief Coroner, a post in which he served until 2000.{{Cite web|url=https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/campbell-larry-w/|title = Senate of Canada - Senator Larry W. Campbell|date = 11 October 2016}}
Early career
Originally from Ontario and of Scottish descent, after high school Campbell's grandfather found him a job digging ditches for coaxial cable.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ElhjjEl3cKQ Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120315130530/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElhjjEl3cKQ&feature=youtu.be Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElhjjEl3cKQ |title=The War on Drugs Has Failed. Is Legalization the Answer? -- Closing Plenary |access-date=2012-11-12 |date=2012-03-09 |publisher=Rice University's Baker Institute}}
- {{cite web |title=The war on drugs has failed. Is legalization the answer? |url=http://bakerinstitute.org/events/the-war-on-drugs-has-failed-is-legalization-the-answer |website=Baker Institute for Public Policy}}{{cbignore}} Later he was a steel worker as a hand riveter in a boxcar plant in Hamilton. He joined the RCMP on a bet with a Hamilton municipal police officer. He spent about three years in uniform, but did not like to issue traffic tickets. He was transferred to the drug squad in Vancouver where he worked in street enforcement mainly regarding heroin, including undercover work. He started a drug squad in Langley. Throughout his RCMP tenure, he never laid a single marijuana charge.
After serving in the RCMP for 12 years, the provincial chief coroner told him that the new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms would negatively impact his drug enforcement efforts and convinced him to become Vancouver's coroner. During the emerging AIDS pandemic, he became a strong advocate for progressive harm reduction policies, quipping that needle exchanges causing drug addiction "is like flies causing garbage". He served for 20 years, retiring as chief coroner for the province.
As the city's former chief coroner, his life inspired a popular CBC Television drama called Da Vinci's Inquest. The show was later followed by a spinoff, Da Vinci's City Hall, in which the Da Vinci character followed his real-life counterpart into politics.{{cite web|title=Da Vinci's City Hall - IMDB|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469239/|website=imdb.com|date=25 October 2005|publisher=Internet Movie Database|access-date=14 June 2016}} He was also one of several coroners who dismissed the murders of several indigenous women in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver between 1967 and 1985 as "unnatural and accidental."
Mayor
Campbell was elected mayor in the 2002 Vancouver municipal election as a member of the Coalition of Progressive Electors, by a large margin of 58% to 30% for his nearest opponent.
Shortly after Campbell's election, divisions began to emerge within his COPE party between a centrist group, led by Campbell and a more left-wing group.[https://advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=ff4c2caa-6e75-4be4-affb-66ed7f006bc8&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A4FV4-00K0-TWD4-02RJ-00000-00&pddocid=urn%3AcontentItem%3A4FV4-00K0-TWD4-02RJ-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=8370&pdteaserkey=sr7&pditab=allpods&ecomp=n7yk&earg=sr7&prid=8d3fbb41-27e7-4f2e-94ad-e63b570b5b1d Bula, Frances. "Campbell stakes out centre: Jim Green aims subtle threat, invitation at diverse group at dinner," Vancouver Sun, 31 March 2005, pp. B1.] On December 14, 2004, Campbell and councillors Jim Green, Raymond Louie and Tim Stevenson announced that they would form an independent caucus within COPE. The media quickly dubbed the bloc the "COPE Light" councillors (in contrast to the "COPE Classic" councillors).[https://advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=ef03f341-1b5e-43d8-b97e-85e66620d151&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A4F1H-2JR0-TWD4-02BY-00000-00&pddocid=urn%3AcontentItem%3A4F1H-2JR0-TWD4-02BY-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=8370&pdteaserkey=sr7&pditab=allpods&ecomp=n7yk&earg=sr7&prid=6ed173f7-cce7-4329-968f-c887b209b9cb Bula, Frances. "Mayor Campbell, councillors will form their own caucus," Vancouver Sun, 15 December 2004, pp. A1.] In 2005, the moderate group formed the centre-left Vision Vancouver party, but Campbell announced he would not run for re-election.{{cite news |url=https://thetyee.ca/News/2008/04/03/VisionKings/ |title=Vision's Three Would-Be Kings |first=Monte |last=Paulsen |access-date=3 September 2020 |work=The Tyee | date=3 April 2008}}{{cite news |url=https://www.straight.com/news/1042621/cope-classic-cope-lite-and-2018-vancouver-civic-election |title=COPE Classic, COPE Lite, and the 2018 Vancouver civic election |first=Charlie |last=Smith|access-date=3 September 2020|work = Georgia Straight |date= 9 March 2018}}
Senate
On August 2, 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced Campbell's appointment by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson as a Liberal senator. Campbell completed his term as mayor before taking up his seat in the Canadian Senate.
On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal senators, including Campbell, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents.{{cite news |last1=Cudmore |first1=James |title=Liberal leader says senators not welcome in caucus {{!}} CBC News |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-removes-senators-from-liberal-caucus-1.2515273 |access-date=2019-01-30 |work=CBC |date=29 January 2014 |language=en}} According to Senate Opposition leader James Cowan, the senators will still refer to themselves as Liberals even if they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus.{{cite news|title=Trudeau's expulsion catches Liberal senators by surprise|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-to-boot-senators-from-liberal-caucus-in-bid-to-restore-senate-independence/article16567413/|access-date=2014-01-29|newspaper=Globe and Mail|date=29 January 2014}}
On April 6, 2016, Campbell left the Senate Liberal Caucus to sit as an Independent and later joined the Independent Senators Group. On November 4, 2019, he joined the Canadian Senators Group.{{cite web |title=Senators List |url=https://sencanada.ca/en/senators-list/ |website=Senate of Canada |date=September 2016 |access-date=5 November 2019}} On October 24, 2022, Campbell left the CSG to sit as a non-affiliated senator.{{Cite news |last=Lapointe |first=Mike |date=2022-11-02 |title=Tannas joins Senate Internal Economy deputy chair slate |work=The Hill Times |url=https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2022/11/02/tannas-joins-senate-internal-economy-deputy-chair-slate/354485/ |access-date=2022-11-15 |quote=Senator Larry Campbell's decision to leave the Canadian Senators Group on Oct. 24}} Campbell remained an independent senator until February 28, 2023, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.
See also
References
{{Reflist|1}}
External links
- {{official website|http://www.larrycampbell.ca}}
- {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=10987}}
- [http://www.worldmayor.com/finalists2004/vancouver.html CityMayors article]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080614154838/http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=cdf9aed6-718c-4991-8328-2475bfda76e6 'Legalize it, control it and tax the livin' hell out of it'] (The Province)
{{Mayors of Vancouver}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Larry}}
Category:21st-century mayors of places in British Columbia
Category:Canadian senators from British Columbia
Category:Liberal Party of Canada senators
Category:Independent Canadian senators
Category:Politicians from Brantford
Category:Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers