Frankly Speaking

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson will be retiring from politics in 2018, after 46 years of involvement with Delta council. First elected as an alderman in 1972 (the first woman ever to hold that office in Delta), she has been mayor of Delta since 1999. In late 2017, she ushered Delta into a new era as it officially became a city. The new year will bring a lot of changes to the South Fraser area of Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Langley. Some of the biggest potential changes could be at the local council level. Voters will elect new councils on Oct. 20, 2018. The results of the 2014 election, the first in which councillors and mayors were elected to four-year terms, ended up mostly as expected. Many indications are that 2018 could be considerably different. Four-year terms did not bring out the best in some local politicians. For sure, there will be at least two new mayors. Delta Mayor Lois Jackson is not seeking another term. She has been mayor since 1999. Her involvement with Delt...

Langley Township Councillor Kim Richter asked me on a Facebook post the following question, in a general discussion of the election polls last week. "What is your take on the 6 new seats in B.C.? Are they all going to go the same way (ie. Conservatives). I have heard (Dianne) Watts is in trouble in Surrey. Is this true?" Here's how I saw the B.C. results on election night shaping up, as of our Oct. 6 discussion. "Can't see Dianne Watts losing. threehundredeight.com seat projections for B.C. seem off-base to me in a number of ridings. Conservatives could lose Fleetwood-Port Kells, will likely lose Van South and possibly at least one each of North Shore and Richmond ridings will go Liberal. New Vancouver-Granville riding seems a pretty even three-way split. Surrey-Newton will also be a close three-way race. The three Coquitlam/Maple Ridge area seats will be interesting. Fin Donnelly (NDP) likely to win in Port Moody-Coquitlam, while Maple Ridge-Pitt...