British Columbia Conservative Leader John Rustad has been re-elected in his riding of Nechako Lakes.
Rustad was kicked out of the Opposition BC United Party for his support on social media of an outspoken climate change critic in 2022, and last year was acclaimed as the B.C. Conservative leader.
Buoyed by the BC United party suspending its campaign, and the popularity of Pierre Poilievre's federal Conservatives, Rustad led his party into contention in the provincial election.
Vancouver businessman Ken Sim defeated Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, posting an overwhelming victory after losing the mayor's race to Stewart in 2018 by less than 1,000 votes. He is the first mayor of Chinese-Canadian descent for that city. Sim pledged to hire 100 new police officers and 100 mental health nurses.
Locke once an ally of McCallum abandoned the Safe Surrey Coalition over issues of transparency and divisiveness. Her platform includes restoring ethics at City Hall, prioritizing public safety and keeping the RCMP in Surrey.
Voters in British Columbia's cities, towns and villages head to the polls today to cast their verdict on local candidates who made big promises this fall to tackle the huge issues confronting almost every community.
With the 2022 Municipal Election this Saturday for the City of Surrey, voters are fully in the zone to analyze and assess who will best make their voices heard in City Hall and beyond. With only 28% of Surrey voters satisfied with the current Council, the stakes are high. Amidst the election buzz, DARPAN chats with the five faces of the five-way Surrey mayoral race:
McCallum is being challenged for the top job by seven contenders, including three former members of Parliament and a once-loyal councillor who defected from McCallum's Safe Surrey Coalition to challenge the policies she'd initially supported. Voters will cast their ballots on Saturday to elect a mayor, eight councillors and six school trustees.
The Safe Surrey Coalition is committing to freezing property taxes for four years at 2.9%. That is well below the 7% expected rate of inflation.