Kennedy Stewart

In May 2018, Stewart announced his pending resignation from Parliament, in order to seek election as Mayor of Vancouver as an independent candidate. In August 2018, he publicly released his letter to the Speaker of House, Geoff Regan, confirming his resignation, effective September 14, 2018. During the 2018 Vancouver municipal election, Stewart was declared the winner of the mayoral race by a margin of fewer than 1,000 votes over Ken Sim, the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) candidate.

On March 23, 2018, Stewart was arrested for civil contempt during a demonstration against the Kinder Morgan pipeline. Other members of the demonstration, including fellow member of Parliament Elizabeth May, were also arrested concerning the same incident. They were accused of violating a court order requiring those demonstrating to stay five metres back from company work sites, when they allegedly blocked the roadway. On April 9, 2018, Justice Kenneth Affleck of the British Columbia Supreme Court recommended that Stewart and the others arrested should be charged with criminal contempt in relation to the alleged incident. On April 16, 2018, it was reported that special prosecutors would be overseeing the charges against Stewart and May. On May 14, 2018, Stewart pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of court for his actions during the protest and was fined $500. As criminal contempt is a common law—not a Criminal Code—offence, Stewart does not have a criminal record.

Stewart announced on May 10, 2018, that he will be resigning from Parliament in order to run to be the mayor of Vancouver. His resignation was effective September 14, 2018 (the last day he can file his paperwork to officially enter the mayoral race). Until his resignation is official on September 14, Stewart told CBC News he intends to continue to campaign for mayor and collect his MP salary, saying that there is "overlap" between both roles. On May 24, 2018, Stewart announced, if elected mayor, he would create a lobbyist registry and new conflict-of-interest rules for City Hall.

During the 2018 Vancouver municipal election, Stewart was unofficially declared the winner of the mayoral race by a margin of fewer than 1000 votes over NPA candidate Ken Sim. Stewart is the first mayor of Vancouver to be unaffiliated with a municipal political party in over 30 years.

He was re-elected in the new riding of Burnaby South in the 2015 election.

On December 4, 2015, Parliament launched its new website for accepting electronic petitions from Canadians. Under the new system, initiated by Stewart's motion that passed before the election, the federal government has to respond within 45 days to online petitions if they are sponsored by one member of Parliament and receive at least 500 signatures. Stewart sponsored the first official e-petition in Canada on behalf of two local constituents.

On December 9, 2015, Stewart was elected by his caucus colleagues as chair of the NDP's British Columbia caucus. In a statement, he vowed to support the NDP's newly elected MPs getting established in Parliament, strengthen engagement with stakeholders and constituents across the province, and hold the new Liberal government accountable for its election promises on affordable housing and pipeline reviews.

Stewart put forward a proposal (Motion 428) for the House of Commons to begin accepting petitions electronically as a means to engage more Canadians in the democratic process. It further proposed that short debates be triggered in Parliament if an online petition receives a significant number of signatures and is sponsored by at least five MPs. Stewart's proposal was endorsed by Ed Broadbent, Preston Manning, and a number of civil society groups. Being opposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative cabinet, Motion 428 passed the House of Commons by only two votes (142-140) on January 29, 2014. It was widely viewed as a "surprise win" for the official opposition.

Stewart is an advocate for social housing and federal action to address BC's housing crisis. In 2014, he put forward a BC-specific affordable housing strategy (Motion 547) to recognize housing as a fundamental right, expand public investments in housing co-ops, maintain rent subsidies for low-income families, set targets for reducing and ending homelessness, and study the impact of investor speculation and housing vacancies on real estate prices. His motion was endorsed by the City of Burnaby.

In 2013, Stewart introduced Bill C-558, The Parliamentary Science Officer Act. Following the elimination of Canada's National Science Advisor in 2008, the bill aimed to create an independent science watchdog tasked with providing Parliament with sound scientific information and ensuring decisions are informed by the best available evidence. Bill C-558 was endorsed by Evidence for Democracy, the Canadian Association of University Teachers, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, and the Centre for Science in the Public Interest.

Stewart held public consultations with Burnaby residents on Kinder Morgan's proposal to build a new export-only, bitumen-based crude oil pipeline through his riding. Stewart became a vocal opponent of the project, citing community concerns over property expropriation, decreasing housing values, increased tanker traffic in the Burrard Inlet, the use of temporary foreign workers, and the lack of benefits for British Columbia. His constituency office helped local residents sign-up to participate in the National Energy Board's review of the project. In 2013, the Burnaby Newsleader named Stewart their "Newsmaker of the Year" for his community work on the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

In 2012, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair appointed Stewart as official opposition critic for science and technology and as a member of the standing committee on industry, science and technology. In Parliament, he opposed the Conservative government's elimination of the long-form census and funding cuts for basic scientific research. He tabled legislation (Motion 453) to protect scientific integrity in government departments and end the muzzling of federal scientists.

On February 25, 2011, Stewart secured the NDP nomination for the federal riding of Burnaby—Douglas in a first ballot victory. He won the riding in the 2011 general election with 44 percent of the vote, and was re-elected with 35 percent of the vote in 2015.

On March 28, 2004, Stewart won the nomination for the New Democratic Party for the federal riding of Vancouver Centre in a close three-way race. Although he lost in the 2004 general election by 4,230 votes, he increased the NDP's vote share in Vancouver Centre by 20 percentage points compared to the 2000 election.

In 1995, Stewart received his master's degree in political science from Simon Fraser University, and a PhD in government from the London School of Economics in 2003.

After moving to Burnaby, British Columbia, in 1988, Stewart played bass guitar for the pop music band State of Mind. In 1991, his band won three West Coast Music Awards.

Edward Charles Kennedy Stewart (born November 8, 1966) is a Canadian politician and academic serving as the 40th and current mayor of Vancouver since 2018. He previously was the member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Burnaby—Douglas (2011–2015) and Burnaby South (2015–2018), serving in the House of Commons as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP) caucus.

Stewart was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1966 and raised in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He earned his bachelor's degree in history from Acadia University.