Research Co. pollster Mario Canseco predicted Kennedy Stewart, Ken Sim and Shauna Sylvester would battle to become the next Mayor of Vancouver on Oct. 20. But he didn’t predict it would take until early Oct. 21 before ex-NDP MP Stewart edged the NPA’s Sim by less than 1,000 votes to become the successor to Gregor Robertson.
It was a night that Robertson’s party, Vision Vancouver, was wiped-off city council and a right-wing split cost the NPA a return to the mayor’s chair. It was also a night that the Vancouver Greens tripled their seats on city council.
Stewart, said Simon Fraser University’s city program director Andy Yan, will have to act as a civic engineer to build bridges instead of build walls with a diverse city council that features five NPA members, three from the Greens and one each from COPE and OneCity.
It was also a night that saw retired fire chief Mike Hurley extinguish the dynasty of Mayor Derek Corrigan in Burnaby. The man who shelved his bid for the mayoralty and endorsed Hurley, DOA leader Joe Keithley, prevented another Burnaby Citizens Association sweep of city council. Keithley finally got elected to public office after campaigning in elections when he was not recording or touring with the hardcore punk pioneers.
On this special edition of theBreaker.news Podcast, host Bob Mackin elicited immediate reaction to the historic night of change from the pollster, Canseco, the prof, Yan, and the punk, Keithley.
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