--- title: "Is Pete Fry related to Hedy Fry? He is her eldest son" description: "Pete Fry, the Green Party candidate for mayor of Vancouver, is the eldest son of Hedy Fry, the Liberal MP for Vancouver Centre. What each one does, why they sit in different parties, and what the family link does and does not mean for the October 17 ballot." canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/pete-fry-hedy-fry-related" last_updated: "2026-09-24T23:10:04.178Z" --- Pete Fry is the eldest son of Hedy Fry. He is a Vancouver city councillor running for mayor on October 17, 2026 for the Green Party of Vancouver. 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 when you mark your ballot. ## 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. ## Who each one is
Pete Fry Hedy Fry
Full name Pete Fry Hedy Madeleine Fry
Born 1969, Dublin, Ireland 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 Vancouver city councillor since 2018 Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre since 1993
In the 2026 city election Candidate for mayor, ballot number 51 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. Marking a ballot for Pete Fry on October 17 has 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 would be true of whoever wins. ## 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. ## What this means for your ballot 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. If you want to judge Pete Fry as a candidate for mayor, his council record, his party's platform and the criticism of both are the material to read. Our [Pete Fry candidate profile](/candidates/pete-fry) sets out his votes, his promises and the published criticism, each with its source, and the [Pete Fry profile article](/news/pete-fry-mayoral-candidate-profile) covers his background and the 2026 campaign in more detail. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.