By Staff Writer
Metro Vancouver
Saturday evening’s municipal election was nail-bitingly close with former Burnaby NDP MP Kennedy Stewart just taking the lead to become Vancouver’s next mayor. Vancouver’s current mayor of ten years, Gregor Robertson, announced early on that he was not running for re-election.
Stewart won the election with 28.72 per cent of the votes, only beating out opponent Ken Sim, a Non-Partisan Association candidate, by a mere 984 votes. Shauna Sylvester, another independent candidate, took third place with 20.49 per cent of the vote.
In Burnaby, longstanding incumbent mayor Derek Corrigan was beat out by former firefighter Mike Hurley, a member of the Burnaby Citizen Association. The former mayor was a staunch opponent to the Trans mountain pipeline but has been criticized for housing market mismanagement.
In Surrey, the newly-elected Doug McCallum has replaced former mayor Linda Hepner, who has stepped down. McCallum’s party is the Safe Surrey Coalition, and McCallum previously served as mayor 13 years ago. Key topics of debate in Surrey are gang violence, police action, and the light rail system.
Vancouver Island
In the province’s capital of Victoria, incumbent mayor Lisa Helps keeps her title. One of the main issues plaguing Victoria and much of Vancouver Island include skyrocketing rent and increasing homelessness.
In Nanaimo, NDP MLA Leonard Krog has been voted in as the new mayor. In Saanich, city councilor Fred Haynes defeated incumbent mayor Richard Atwell, largely on a platform focused on access to housing.
Interior
Kelowna keeps its incumbent mayor Colin Basran. Meanwhile, homelessness, development, and housing were topics that dominated discussion across the larger cities. Former Councillor John Vassiki will become the new mayor of Penticton, while the new mayor of Vernon will be Victor Cumming.
Northern B.C.
Incumbents flourished in northern B.C. municipalities. Prince George will keep its former mayor, Lyn Hall, as well as all of its previous councilors. Fort St. John, Williams Lake, Smithers, Kitimat, and Dawson Creek will all keep their former mayors. However, former Councillor Gary Foster ousted incumbent Bill Streeper in Fort Nelson.
