Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and his wife Amy Robertson are separating, according to a statement from the mayor’s office on Saturday.
“As people close to our family are aware, we recently agreed to separate,” the Robertsons said, in a joint statement.
“This is a personal and private matter for our family, and contrary to false rumours being spread online, it is a mutual decision that we made amicably and together. We appreciate understanding and privacy, especially for our kids.”
The mayor’s office said Robertson would not discuss the “false rumours,” nor was he available for an interview. His office confirmed that has moved out of his Kitsilano house and into an apartment building downtown.
Meantime, the mayor’s party Vision Vancouver also issued a statement Saturday, calling on the leader of the NPA to explain why he spread “false rumours and personal attacks” on the mayor and his family.
NPA vice-president Rob Macdonald sent an email to the mayor last month, saying that he couldn’t go to a forum on Kinder Morgan because he was “meeting” to “discuss” rumours about the mayor “philandering” and being thrown out of the house by his wife. The June 16 email from MacDonald was included in Vision’s statement to the media on Saturday.
Marcella Munro, campaign communications director for Vision called on Macdonald to explain the email and the “personal attacks” on the mayor and his family.
Munro said that even if MacDonald's email was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek response to the mayor’s invite, she didn’t find it funny and that it was highly inappropriate.
She said the rumours have been spreading on social media, although she could not say when they started, nor would she discuss the nature of those accusations.
“It’s clear that Rob MacDonald, and the single biggest donor to the NPA, show that the NPA doesn’t have a problem with pushing these rumours and this is a negative personal attack. He needs to explain the content of this email,” she said.
“I don’t think you can just write off an email from the vice-president of a political party as a flippant joke.”
She also called on journalist Kirk LaPointe, former managing editor of The Vancouver Sun and potential mayoral candidate for the NPA, to address the issue.
MacDonald on Saturday denied that the NPA was spreading rumours about the mayor.
“The NPA is not engaged in any personal attacks against Gregor Robertson nor am I,” he said, in an email. “Certainly there are rumours floating around about Gregor’s conduct in office, but we have no comment on these rumours.”
He did not disclose the reason for writing the email, but added that he was grateful for help he received from Amy Robertson with his son and wished her well during “this difficult time.”
The Robertsons have been married since the late 1980s. Before they wed, when Gregor Robertson was in his mid-20s, they sailed to New Zealand together for 18 months. After that, they returned to Vancouver and started an organic farm near Fort Langley. Growing fruits and vegetables, the couple started Happy Planet, an organic juice company.
They recently sold their $1.95 million home. The six-bedroom home near Douglas Park sold last summer for the asking price. At the time, the mayor said they were looking to downsize now that their children had graduated from high school.
The couple has four children — Hanna, Jinagh, Satchel and Terra. In 2012, Robertson’s foster son Jinagh was arrested on cocaine and firearms charges.
