The Silent Mayor: Pushing for Answers

BTS with CTV News Vancouver

When a Vancouver suburb was grappling with an increasingly complex homelessness crisis centred around a growing tent city, residents and journalists alike turned to the city’s mayor for answers about what was being done. But Mike Morden avoided interview requests, leaving reporters little option but to approach him at public event. Eventually the mayor decided to hire a public relations company for a controlled interview — a strategy that backfired in spectacular fashion as the mayor described the city’s homeless population as “raping and pillaging” his community.
In this detailed podcast, BTS with CTV Vancouver host Penny Daflos and reporters Maria Weisgarber, Sheila Scott and Ben Miljure weigh the mayor’s preference for press release statements with the accountability and live answers expected from our public officials.