Richard Stewart

Richard Stewart (born 1959) is the current mayor for the city of Coquitlam, British Columbia. Stewart was elected to Coquitlam City Council in 2005, and became mayor in 2008.[1][2]

For the English cricketer, see Wes Stewart.
His Worship

Richard Stewart
Mayor of Coquitlam[1]
Assumed office
December 1, 2008
Preceded byMaxine Wilson
Councillor of Coquitlam[2]
In office
November 19, 2005 – December 1, 2008
MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville[3]
In office
2001–2005
Preceded byJohn Cashore
Succeeded byDiane Thorne
Personal details
Born1958/1959 (age 61–62)[4]
NationalityCanadian
Political partyBC Liberals
Spouse(s)Anna Rosa Stewart
Children4
Alma materSimon Fraser University
OccupationPolitician, Entrepreneur
WebsiteRichardStewart.ca

Personal life

He was married in 1983 to Anna Rosa, they have four children. Stewart has served his community in the provincial government as MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville from 2001 to 2005;[3] appointed MLA Responsible for Francophone Affairs,[5] member of the Government Caucus Committee on the Economy, and Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Education.

Stewart is bilingual, speaking English and French.[5]

Stewart has experience as a community volunteer in a large number of social, service, environmental, business and community organizations, including the Coquitlam Rotary Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Maillardville Lions Club, the Société Maillardville Uni and Société Francophone de Maillardville.

Career

Stewart was previously President of the Canadian Home Builders' Association of British Columbia, Chair of the National Housing Economic Research Council, a member of the BC Minister's Advisory Council on Affordable Housing, a member of National and BC Building Code Committees, and a member of the National Research Council Canada's Standing Committee on Housing.

At the local government level, Stewart has served on Economic Development Committees, on a local Advisory Design Panel, on Housing Committees, and as a Trustee on the Coquitlam Public Library Board. Stewart is a writer, and has operated his own publishing, government relations and communications business.

On November 15, 2008, Stewart was elected as mayor of Coquitlam in the British Columbia municipal elections, beating out incumbent Maxine Wilson.[6]

In 2016, Stewart revealed that he had been wearing the same suit to work events for the past fifteen months, in an effort to highlight the double standard that women in the public sphere, particularly in politics, are subject to over their appearance.[7][8] He stated that while he had heard of female colleagues at both the municipal and provincial levels of government receiving negative comments about their outfits and hairstyles, particularly when they re-used outfits, he had never heard of a male politician receiving similar comments.[9] Although his original intention was to carry on until someone noticed, he went public after fifteen months because "I was wearing the same suit to every meeting and (there was) no indication that anyone was ever going to notice."[7][8][9]

City Councillor committees
  • Chair of the Livable Communities Advisory Committee
  • Chair of the Disability Issues Advisory Committee
  • Chair of the Maillardville Revitalization Committee
  • Member of the GVRD Labour Relations Bureau
  • Chair of the Parcel Tax Review Panel
  • Council representative to the Fraser-Burrard Community Justice Society
  • Member of the Executive of Lower Mainland Municipal Association

References
  1. City of Coquitlam: Mayor and Council Retrieved on 15 March 2009
  2. City of Coquitlam: 2005 Election Results Retrieved on 15 March 2009
  3. Elections BC 2001 Results: Coquitlam-Maillardville Retrieved on 15 March 2009
  4. ELECTION 2014: Stewart wins in Coquitlam; Sekora, after many years, is out of office McKenna, Gary. The Tri City News [Coquitlam, B.C] 18 Nov 2014.
  5. Relations, Office of the Premier,Intergovernmental (2001-08-21). "MLA GIVEN FRANCOPHONE RESPONSIBILITIES". archive.news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  6. City of Coquitlam: 2008 Election Results Retrieved on 15 March 2009
  7. "Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart wore same suit for 15 months and nobody noticed". CBC. Feb 22, 2016.
  8. "B.C. mayor wears same suit for 15 months as social experiment - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  9. "He washed it six times: Coquitlam mayor Richard Stewart explains why he wore the same suit for 15 months". National Post. Retrieved 2020-06-22.


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