Sam Sullivan

The Sullivan family were tenant farmers in Ulster. They lived in County Armagh in the Parish of Tartaraghan in the town of Cloncore which is not so much a town as a collection of small farms. Sam Sullivan’s great grandparents, Thomas Sullivan and Charlotte (Sinnamond) Sullivan started their family in Cloncore where the first two children were born. They moved to Glasgow, Scotland, where Thomas worked as a laborer in the Dawsholm Gas Works. Sam Sullivan’s grandfather, Samuel Cinnamond Sullivan, was the third child and was born in Glasgow. He came to Vancouver as a young man, joined the Duke of Connaught’s Own, the 158th (Overseas) Battalion and was wounded. He played in the Battalion Football Team. He worked as a baker in Vancouver.Sam Sullivan was born in Vancouver on November 13, 1959, the second of five children. He graduated from Vancouver Technical School and suffered a severe skiing accident at 19 years of age which left him a quadriplegic.
After seven years of being on welfare and in social housing he realized that the only way for things to get better was for him to make them better. In the process he eventually formed six successful societies to make life better for persons with disabilities. He received a degree in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University. In 1993 Sam was elected to Vancouver City Council and after serving for twelve years he successfully ran for Mayor and served for three years.After being elected to Vancouver City Council in 1993, Sam Sullivan served as a City Councilor for 12 years.  He was elected Mayor in November of 2005.  Since accepting the Olympic Flag at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, he has become one of the world’s most recognized Mayors.As Mayor he has led the City’s planning for the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games.  This includes the construction of over $100 million for venues and the Olympic Village in Southeast False Creek – the largest and greenest housing development in North America.   Mayor Sullivan has introduced EcoDensity, an innovative policy to reduce the City’s impact on the environment, increase affordability of housing and improve the vitality of neighbourhoods through high quality densification.  He has also championed the completion of a rapid transit line to UBC and the return of a Downtown Streetcar network.To reduce crime and homelessness on Vancouver streets, Mayor Sullivan has introduced Project Civil City to ensure a social legacy for the 2010 Games.  The result has been record investments in social housing, more than 100 new police officers and expanded social services for people suffering from drug addiction and mental illness.  Mayor Sullivan has been a champion for the reopening of the Riverview mental health facility and the use of vacant City-owned land for social housing.During his term, Mayor Sullivan has also worked to reduce taxes on small business, increase investment for arts and culture and introduce a 311 information service that will replace 550 municipal phone numbers with one - while offering multilingual services 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.Mayor Sullivan is a recipient of the nation’s highest honour, the Order of Canada, for his community service on behalf of marginalized people.   He has won several other awards, including the Terry Fox Award for national excellence, and the Christopher Reeve Award for his outstanding contributions to the community of persons with spinal cord injury and other physical disabilities.He obtained a Business Administration degree from Simon Fraser University and has also taught himself the basics of several languages including Cantonese, Italian and Punjabi.Sullivan broke his neck while skiing at the age of 19 and is a quadriplegic.  He is the founder of six non-profit organizations that have improved the lives of thousands of North Americans with disabilities, including the Tetra Society which recruits technically-skilled volunteers to create assistive devices for people with disabilities (30 chapters throughout North America), and the Disabled Sailing Association which provides opportunities for people with disabilities to sail (20 chapters in North America).  He is an avid sailor, and also enjoys hiking using an assistive device he co-invented called the TrailRider, a one-wheeled vehicle that enables people with disabilities to travel and participate in hiking/camping trips and is in use throughout North America.The six societies formed by Sam Sullivan are as follows: The Disabled Sailing Association (For Rehabilitation through recreational and competitive sailing.The Tetra Society of North America (Offers a program of individualized technical assistance to people with disabilities.Vancouver Adapted Music Society (VAMS) Believing in the therapeutic benefits of music creation VAMS encourages people with disabilities to become involved in a music program.BC Mobility Opportunities Society (BCMOS) (Formed to make it possible for persons with disabilities to access BC’s great outdoors.)ConnecTra Society (Based on the fact that people with disabilities have a lot to contribute, this society helps people make new connections to create new opportunities to help them achieve their goals.)The Disabled Independent Gardeners Association (DIGA)