David Cadman

David Cadman is a former Canadian politician, who served on Vancouver City Council from 2002 to 2011. A social and environmental activist, Cadman served as a member of the Coalition of Progressive Electors.

Cadman was born in Montreal, Quebec and grew up in Toronto, Ontario. Cadman studied at the University of the South in Tennessee and Geneva in International Development. He later attended the Sorbonne and is fluent in French. Cadman spent several years after university in Tanzania and Kenya developing literacy programs. He returned to Canada in 1976 and settled in British Columbia.

Cadman worked for the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. and the Greater Vancouver Regional District as a communications director. He later served as president of the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation.

Politics
Cadman ran for Mayor of Vancouver in 1999, endorsed by both the Coalition of Progressive Electors and the Vancouver Green Party, but was defeated by incumbent mayor Philip Owen. In 2002, Cadman was elected council as part of the COPE sweep of that year's municipal elections. Cadman was one of the left-wing "COPE Classic" councillors, and remained with COPE when his centrist colleagues formed Vision Vancouver. He was the only COPE councillor re-elected in 2005, finishing sixth in council balloting.

In 2004, Cadman opposed construction of the Canada Line, arguing that people would not use it. He said, "There is no rational reason why we should risk the entire public-transit system – 80 percent of which is buses – on an expenditure where there is dubious assurance that the ridership will arrive."

Since March 2007, Cadman is the President of the international organization 'ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability' an international organization of nearly 1000 local governments who have made a commitment to sustainability. In this function he heads the ICLEI Executive Committee, representing the organization to other international bodies.