Is Pete Fry related to Hedy Fry? He is her eldest son
Pete Fry, elected mayor of Vancouver on October 17, 2026 for the Green Party of Vancouver, is the eldest son of Hedy Fry, the Liberal MP for Vancouver Centre. What each one does and why they sit in different parties.

Yes. Pete Fry is the eldest son of Hedy Fry. He was elected mayor of Vancouver on October 17, 2026 for the Green Party of Vancouver, with 98,494 votes in the City's unofficial count, as The Canadian Wire reported. She has represented Vancouver Centre in the House of Commons since 1993 for the Liberal Party of Canada.
People search for this because two people with the same surname hold public office in the same city at the same time. The short answer is that they are mother and son. The longer answer, below, covers what each office does, why the two belong to different parties, and what the family link means now that he is mayor.
The relationship, and where it is recorded
Hedy Fry has three adult sons. Pete Fry is the eldest of them. The Tyee reported on April 15, 2026, in Katie Hyslop's article on his mayoral campaign, that he moved to Vancouver as a toddler with his doctor parents, Hedy and Peter Fry, and described his mother as the longest-serving female MP in Canada, holding the Vancouver Centre riding since 1993. The same relationship appears on the Wikipedia entries for both of them, each with its own cited references.
What is Pete Fry's nationality?
Pete Fry is Canadian. Section 38 (1) (b) of the Vancouver Charter says a person must be a Canadian citizen to be nominated for office on Vancouver City Council, to be elected to it and to hold that office. The same section also requires a person to be 18 or older and to have lived in British Columbia for at least 6 months. He was elected mayor on October 17, 2026, and Daily Hive's Kenneth Chan reported that he was sworn in at the Orpheum Theatre on November 2, 2026. (BC Laws text current to November 3, 2026, read on November 6, 2026.)
He moved to Canada as a small child. The Tyee reported on April 15, 2026 that he immigrated to Vancouver from Dublin, Ireland, as a toddler with his parents, who were both doctors, and that the family's first home was on Kingsway. His Wikipedia entry says he was one year old when the family moved.
His age in news reports puts his birth in 1969 or 1970: The Tyee gave his age as 46 on January 18, 2016, when he ran in the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant provincial by-election.
Who each one is
| Pete Fry | Hedy Fry | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pete Fry | Hedy Madeleine Fry |
| Born | 1969 or 1970; came to Vancouver from Dublin, Ireland, as a toddler | August 6, 1941, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Level of government | City of Vancouver | Government of Canada |
| Party | Green Party of Vancouver | Liberal Party of Canada |
| Current role | Mayor of Vancouver, elected October 17, 2026; city councillor from 2018 | Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre since 1993 |
| In the 2026 city election | Elected mayor, 98,494 votes in the City's unofficial count | Not a candidate |
They belong to different parties
The Green Party of Vancouver is a municipal party. It runs candidates in Vancouver city elections only, for mayor, council, park board and school board. It is a separate organisation from the Green Party of Canada and from the BC Greens, even though the name is similar.
Hedy Fry sits for the Liberal Party of Canada, which competes in federal elections for seats in the House of Commons.
So the two are in different parties, and those parties do not compete against each other. A municipal party and a federal party appear on different ballots in different elections. The votes cast for Pete Fry on October 17 had no effect on which party holds Vancouver Centre in Parliament.
Pete Fry has also run under a third banner. In the 2016 Vancouver-Mount Pleasant provincial by-election he stood for the BC Greens and placed second, with 27.07% against the New Democratic Party candidate's 60.14%.
What each office can actually do
Vancouver City Council decides city matters. That includes building permits, zoning, parks, the police budget, local taxes and city services. The mayor is one vote on that council and chairs its meetings.
A Member of Parliament works in the House of Commons in Ottawa on federal matters. That includes criminal law, immigration, national spending and federal programs. Hedy Fry currently chairs the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
Neither can vote in the other's chamber. Hedy Fry holds no seat on Vancouver City Council. The mayor of Vancouver holds no seat in Parliament. Cities in British Columbia get their legal powers from the Province under provincial law, not from Parliament.
The two levels do meet in one place: federal money reaches Vancouver through housing and infrastructure programs, and any mayor deals with federal ministers and local MPs about that funding. That was true of mayors before this election and is true of Pete Fry as mayor.
Their paths into politics
Hedy Fry worked as a physician before entering politics. She was first elected on October 25, 1993, defeating the sitting Prime Minister, Kim Campbell, in Vancouver Centre. She has won every election in that riding since and sits in the 45th Parliament, which makes her the longest-serving female Member of Parliament in Canadian history. She served in Cabinet from 1996 to 2002, as Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and the Status of Women.
Pete Fry came to elected office later and through a different route. He ran a print shop on East Hastings Street and later a graphics and communications agency. He chaired the Strathcona Residents' Association and sat as a community representative on the Downtown Eastside Local Area Plan in the early 2010s. He lost three elections before winning one: city council in 2014, the 2016 provincial by-election, and the 2017 council by-election. He won a council seat in 2018 with the second-highest vote count of any council candidate, and was re-elected in 2022. On October 17, 2026 he was elected mayor, defeating Ken Sim of ABC Vancouver, who had held the office for one term.
What this means now that he is mayor
The family connection is a fact about the two people. It carries no formal power in either direction, because the offices are separate and the parties are separate.
To judge Pete Fry as mayor, read what he promised and how he votes. Our Pete Fry page lists his campaign promises, each with its status and the record behind it, and the Pete Fry profile article covers his background and the 2026 campaign in more detail.
Questions this story answers
Is Pete Fry related to Hedy Fry?
Yes. Pete Fry is the eldest son of Hedy Fry. Pete Fry was elected mayor of Vancouver on October 17, 2026, for the Green Party of Vancouver, after eight years on city council. Hedy Fry has been the Liberal Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre since 1993. The relationship is reported by The Tyee and stated on both of their Wikipedia entries.
Is Pete Fry Hedy Fry's son?
Pete Fry is Hedy Fry's eldest son. She has three adult sons. The Tyee reported on April 15, 2026 that Pete Fry immigrated to Vancouver from Dublin, Ireland, as a toddler with his parents, Hedy and Peter Fry, who were both doctors.
What is Pete Fry's nationality?
Pete Fry is Canadian. Section 38 of the Vancouver Charter allows only a Canadian citizen to be nominated, elected and hold office on Vancouver City Council, and he was elected mayor on October 17, 2026. The Tyee reported that he came to Vancouver from Dublin, Ireland, as a toddler with his parents.
Are Pete Fry and Hedy Fry in the same political party?
No. They belong to different parties at different levels of government. Pete Fry runs for the Green Party of Vancouver, a municipal party that competes only in Vancouver city elections. Hedy Fry sits for the Liberal Party of Canada in the House of Commons in Ottawa. The votes cast for Pete Fry in the city election had no effect on the federal Liberal Party.
Is it Hedy Fry or Hoda Fry?
Her name is Hedy Madeleine Fry. Hoda Fry is a common misspelling and refers to no separate person. She was born on August 6, 1941 in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, worked as a physician, and was first elected to Parliament in 1993.
Does Hedy Fry have any role in Vancouver city government?
No. A Member of Parliament works in the House of Commons in Ottawa on federal matters such as criminal law, immigration and national spending. Vancouver City Council decides city matters such as permits, zoning, parks, police budgets and local taxes. Hedy Fry holds no seat or vote on Vancouver City Council, and the mayor of Vancouver holds no seat or vote in Parliament.
Who is Hedy Fry?
Hedy Fry is the Liberal Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre, first elected on October 25, 1993, when she defeated the sitting Prime Minister, Kim Campbell. She is the longest-serving female Member of Parliament in Canadian history and sits in the 45th Parliament. She chairs the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. She served in Cabinet from 1996 to 2002 as Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and the Status of Women. She worked as a doctor before entering politics.
Who is Pete Fry's father?
Pete Fry's father is Peter Fry. The Tyee reported in April 2026, in Katie Hyslop's article on the mayoral campaign, that Pete Fry moved to Vancouver as a toddler with his doctor parents, Hedy and Peter Fry. Both parents worked as physicians. Hedy Fry practised medicine in Vancouver before she was first elected to Parliament in 1993.
Does the family connection affect how Vancouver is run?
The mayor of Vancouver and a Member of Parliament hold separate powers, and neither can vote in the other's chamber. Cities in British Columbia get their powers from the Province, not from Parliament. Federal money does reach Vancouver through housing and infrastructure programs, and any mayor deals with federal ministers on those, as mayors did before this election.
Sources
The pages this story draws on. Open one to check a claim yourself.
- Hedy Fry, Wikipedia, with its cited referencesen.wikipedia.org
- Pete Fry, Wikipedia, with its cited referencesen.wikipedia.org
- The Tyee, Vancouver Greens’ Pete Fry is running for mayor, Katie Hyslop, April 15, 2026thetyee.ca
- The Tyee, Byelection Battle: Meet Candidates Vying for Vancouver Mount-Pleasant, Andrew MacLeod, January 18, 2016thetyee.ca
- Daily Hive, Pete Fry inauguration speech, Kenneth Chan, November 2, 2026dailyhive.com
- BC Laws, Vancouver Charter, section 38, current to November 3, 2026bclaws.gov.bc.ca
- House of Commons, The Honourable Hedy Fry, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centreourcommons.ca
- City of Vancouver, Councillor Pete Fryvancouver.ca
- City of Vancouver, 2026 mayoral candidatesvancouver.ca
- The Canadian Wire, Vancouver Election 2026: Pete Fry Defeats Ken Sim, October 18, 2026thecanadianwire.com
- Portrait of Pete Fry, Wikimedia Commons, CC0commons.wikimedia.org
- Portrait of Hedy Fry in 2025, Wikimedia Commons, CC0commons.wikimedia.org
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