Frankly Speaking

The voters have spoken - and that means many mayors are packing their bags. In the areas I was paying attention to (Oct. 13 blog post ), mayors in Surrey, White Rock and Langley City all lost their jobs. Meanwhile, in Langley Township Councillor Eric Woodward is the new mayor, and five members of his Contract With Langley slate will hold a majority on council. Former Fort Langley-Aldergrove MLA Rich Coleman, who easily won his provincial seat in six elections, finished a distant third and his Elevate Langley slate did not elect anyone to council. Delta Mayor George Harvie easily won and his Achieving For Delta slate holds every seat on council.  In Mission, incumbent Mayor Paul Horn easily beat two challengers. It was all part of a wider trend across the province that saw 37 incumbent mayors lose their seats, and many more councillors fall by the wayside as well. In cities where there has been more political stability, incumbents had an easier time of it. In Langley Township, Coun....

A stroll through the 2022 municipal election campaigns in the two Langleys, White Rock, Delta, Surrey and Mission There’s nothing like COVID-19 when it comes to restricting access to everything - including municipal election campaigns. A bout of the virus in late September kept me from participating as a moderator in debates and candidate gatherings in Langley City, White Rock and Surrey. Thus my firsthand knowledge of what was taking place in each of those races to win seats on those three councils for the 2022-26 period has been significantly diminished. Fortunately, I was again healthy and able to take part in a candidate meeting for Langley Township candidates last week. The energy shown at that meeting has inspired me to post some comments about the local races, which will be decided by voters on Saturday. Former deputy premier Rich Coleman is seeking election as mayor in Langley Township  The Township is a good place to start. There is a four-way race to replace outgoing mayo...