A UFV Political Scientist says Trudeau may want to learn from Vancouver's green initiatives during his city hall visit.

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The last time Vancouver City Hall had a visit from a Prime Minister, there was another Trudeau leading the country.

This time, Justin Trudeau will drop by and meet with Mayor Gregor Robertson.

The greet is scheduled for Thursday morning and political scientist Hamish Telford, says Trudeau will likely walk through the door to genuine smiles and handshakes.

“To start with, Justin Trudeau wants to get off on the right foot here,” Telford said. “I think on this first visit they’re going to be a little bit starstruck.”

The associate professor at the University of the Fraser Valley said Trudeau will likely try to use the Liberals’ new found support in BC to push forward a largely urban agenda.

“That’s going to require co-operation, not just from provinces, but right down to the mayor level, so this is the start of it, everybody is eager, everybody is happy, but the big question is, can he pull it off.”

He said this might also be an opportunity for the Prime Minister to learn something from the West Coast.

“Vancouver has made it a point to be one of the greenest cities in North America, if not the world, and I think Justin Trudeau is going to want to learn about that, this is going to be an area where Vancouver can teach him something.”

This may be the first prime minister visit in years but Telford points out former Prime Minister Stephen Harper wouldn’t likely have had as warm a reception anyways.

“For much of the Harper time in power, the Conservatives had no seats in Montreal, most of the time no seats in Toronto and no seats in Vancouver, so these were sort of not welcoming places for Stephen Harper or places that he wanted to go; whereas the Liberal support is very urban, their agenda was very urban, they not only made breakthroughs here, but in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.”