The former steelworker, RCMP officer and coroner was elected as mayor of Vancouver by a landslide in 2002. As one of the country's most popular politicians, Larry Campbell fought drug addiction in the city's Downtown Eastside and scored the 2010 Olympic bid. He tells TIME's Deborah Jones why he's not running again, what's wrong with Canadian politics and what he's planning for the future.

 

 

WHEN DID THE HONEYMOON END FOR YOU AS MAYOR? I knew I was in trouble right at the start, because four of [my fellow] councilors voted against the Olympics, and we had run on a platform that supported the Olympics.

 

AFTER YOUR WIN IN 2002, YOU TOLD SUPPORTERS, "YOU WILL SEE A CHANGED CITY." HOW HAS VANCOUVER CHANGED? The Downtown Eastside has started turning around, the Olympics are coming in 2010, the [rapid-transit line] is being built, and there is a 10-year transit plan in place.

 

VANCOUVER IS KNOWN AS A TOURIST DESTINATION AND AS A CITY BATTLING DRUG ADDICTION AND CRIME. HOW WILL THAT CHANGE WITH THE OLYMPICS AND THE TRIAL OF ALLEGED SERIAL KILLER ROBERT PICKTON? I don't think we present any darker side than any other city. Our crime rate, compared with other major cities, is low. The 2010 Olympics will see Vancouver as everyone else does, as a big city with areas that have poverty. I won't comment on Pickton, but I will say this: the tragedy of the missing women has touched the city to its very core. We need to always--and I think Vancouver does--protect those people on the margins of our society.

 

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FEDERAL DRUG AND PROSTITUTION LAWS CHANGED? I'm a realist. I favor legalization of marijuana--that it be controlled, regulated and taxed to the max, and all that money go into health care. The difficulty with sex-trade workers is there's such a wide range of views. I've suggested red-light districts; some people like that and some don't.

 

IN THE WAKE OF THE LONDON BOMBINGS, ARE CANADA'S CITIES DOING ENOUGH TO PROTECT AGAINST ATTACK? I don't know that you can ever be completely ready ... I believe we are, but there's a point where there's nothing you can do to stop someone who wants to carry out something so horrific. As a coroner, I don't have words to describe it. But there's a point where you have to realize that security has become so tight the terrorists have won; they have changed your quality of life.

 

YOU VIGOROUSLY OPPOSED THE CONSERVATIVES IN THE FEDERAL ELECTION. WHAT DO YOU SO DISLIKE ABOUT THE PARTY AND STEPHEN HARPER? I don't dislike Stephen Harper at all--I've never even met the person. My dislike goes to the true issues. They have no platform for municipalities ... and they've lost the "progressive" in the "conservative." There would be, for instance, no place in that party for Larry Campbell.

 

IN WHAT PARTY WOULD THERE BE A PLACE FOR LARRY CAMPBELL? In the N.D.P. or the Liberals, because my place is in the center. I could be a right-wing N.D.P. or a left-wing Liberal.

 

WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER RE-ENTERING POLITICS, OR THE SENATE? I would not re-enter politics. Rumors have me running for Premier, for leader of the opposition, for Member of Parliament in at least three ridings, provincially and in the Senate, as well joining a number of private companies. I'm flattered, but they're rumors ... the only thing I wouldn't rule out is running again municipally, way down the road.

 

WHAT WILL YOU DO FIRST WHEN YOUR TERM ENDS? There are parts of the house that have fallen into disrepair, so I think I'll be a handyman for a while. Then I'm going to tie flies for fishing.

 

YOU'VE BEEN ACCUSED OF USING FOUL LANGUAGE AND BEING A BULLY. WILL THAT CHANGE? It won't ... It's more that I'm impatient. I'm not physically a bully, but I have used foul language. I admit that. It's not something that I'm proud of, but I'm 57 years old. I think I've left a legacy. People understand me and respect me, and that's in spite of my faults.

 

Postscript: Shortly after this was published, Campbell accepted a seat in the Senate.