In a commentary published after Saturday’s municipal election, Rob Shaw said the defeats of several incumbent mayors delivered a warning for the BC NDP ahead of the Oct. 24 provincial vote.
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In a commentary, Rob Shaw said British Columbia voters showed they are willing to remove incumbent politicians after Saturday’s municipal election, with a number of sitting mayors defeated across the province.
Shaw highlighted several high-profile defeats, including Ken Sim in Vancouver, defeated by Pete Fry, and Brenda Locke in Surrey, defeated by Doug McCallum.
The commentary also listed mayoral defeats in multiple communities, including New Westminster, West Vancouver, Langford, Delta, Prince George, Port Alberni, Kamloops, Clearwater, Qualicum Beach, Langley (both the city and township), and Maple Ridge.
Shaw said that even mayors who survived, such as Nanaimo’s Leonard Krog and Victoria’s Marianne Alto, did so with slimmer margins, while he wrote that Brad West in Port Coquitlam “crushed it” with 91 per cent of the vote.
The commentary said McCallum was re-elected to a fifth term after Surrey voted for him, and described his 2018 decision to pull Surrey out of the RCMP as part of what left the BC NDP facing a years-long political predicament when successor Locke tried to reverse the move.
Shaw also included a reference to the BC NDP leader’s public response following McCallum’s re-election, quoting Eby saying: “We’ve worked together before to get SkyTrain to Langley underway, and I’m ready to work with him again on the things Surrey needs.”
The commentary said McCallum’s promise for the new term includes extending SkyTrain from Surrey City Centre to Newton, and that Eby responded with: “Newton is growing fast, and the people who live and work there deserve fast, reliable transit. I’m glad to sit down with Mayor-elect McCallum, Prime Minister Carney, TransLink and the Mayors’ Council to talk about what it would take.”
Shaw framed the municipal results as potentially significant for the provincial campaign and referenced the Oct. 24 provincial election date, while noting that it may be too early to know how Saturday’s outcomes will translate to voter behaviour leading into the vote.
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