A former Surrey councillor and political analysts say Saturday night’s municipal results in B.C. reflected a desire for change, while warning negative tactics could cut both ways.
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Incumbent mayors and most of their slates were voted out of office across many municipalities in British Columbia on Saturday night, prompting questions about whether voters’ shift in civic politics could carry over to the provincial election this Saturday.
Former Surrey councillor Barinder Rasode said the outcome appeared to be driven by a desire for change rather than an ideological shift, adding it was a “real indication and need for change on issues that matter to community around public safety, affordability and housing.”
Hamish Telford, a University of the Fraser Valley political science associate professor, said the “shelf life” of a successful government in Canada is about 10 years and noted the NDP has been in power for nine years under two premiers.
Telford said civic voters “made a change” but “went with familiar options,” pointing to voters moving from outgoing Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim while others—such as longtime councillor Pete Fry and former longtime mayor of Surrey Doug McCallum—represented continuity in who people viewed as steady choices.
Telford also cautioned that negative campaigns can backfire, saying voters saw that dynamic with Ken Sim when “it can backfire to run a negative campaign.”
The discussion of campaign tone and party messaging was sharpened by recent exchanges between BC political leaders. Lorne Doerkson said at last Wednesday’s leaders debate that “You have someone right now who is denouncing police in this province,” and also said, “You wrote a book about how to sue the police.”
In the days after the municipal results, BC Green Party leader Emily Lowan said Sunday that “David Eby called this snap election two years early for nobody but himself.”
Eby responded on Monday by calling out three BC Conservative candidates—Brian Tepper, Heather Moss and David Williams—whom he said are members of a separatist Facebook group called the BC Prosperity Project. Eby said the candidates “are enabling and legitimizing a fringe political project in British Columbia to try to separate us from Canada.”
Telford said the NDP’s negative attacks may work in their favour, but added that the party “has to promise something positive” and he is “not sure we’re seeing that so far.”
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