In a province run by the Liberals, in a country ruled by the Conservatives, there’s the City of Burnaby, run entirely by the New Democrats. The Burnaby Citizens Association, a group of card-carrying NDP members, hold every single municipal seat.
In the centre of it all is Mayor Derek Corrigan, now in his 27th year in office – he started as a councillor in 1987 and became mayor in 2002. He has a tight hold on the city, and he’s sure he can win again.
“I wouldn’t run if I wasn’t confident I could win the election,” he says, seated behind his desk at city hall.
“(But) we never underestimate our opponents. We never take it for granted that we’re entitled. We go out and work as hard as we can to try to make sure we’re going to be successful in the election.”
Corrigan has a reputation for being tough, controversial, outspoken, intelligent and even intimidating, arrogant and difficult at times. He has a background as a lawyer and worked as a prison guard in Oakalla. He grew up in East Vancouver, raised by a single mom, who worked as an usherette in the ‘60s. He could have had a lucrative career as a criminal lawyer, but he opted for public service.
“I was blessed with the intelligence and the ability to go to university and to be successful, something nobody in my family had ever done,” he says. “I can remember what my mom and grandmother told me about giving back, about being someone who looked to the interests of other people before their own interests. I’ve always been committed to that.”
The Nov. 15 election marks Corrigan’s fifth run at the mayoral seat. He says the top issues are traffic and transportation, density and support for refugees and immigrants.
Traffic, Corrigan says, is a problem akin to holding back the tide, as the Fraser Valley and northeast sector grows. Corrigan estimates the city will take on another 100,000 people, which is why Burnaby is focusing on increasing density around the city’s town centres. Burnaby is also incredibly diverse, with many refugees and immigrants, and the city needs to provide services he says are not dealt with by other orders of government.
Of course, there’s the battle with Kinder Morgan. The city has taken a tough stance against the company’s pipeline expansion and has spent roughly $200,000 in legal fees from casino funds trying to stop the project. It’s a national-level fight that’s highlighted a much bigger issue: Can the federal government override local municipalities? Corrigan is hoping to resolve that question through the courts.
“This is Phase 1 of a very long war,” he says, “and we need to accept the fact there’s a legal system that needs to be allowed to respond and make those decisions.”
Corrigan’s complete monopoly on the city has come under fire from media and his political opponents since the BCA has zero opposition in Burnaby.
“I’m not sure what the expectation is. I’m intentionally supposed to lose some seats?” he asks.
“Most councils are unanimous most of the time,” he says, adding some councillors actually vote against each other. The city also does a great job consulting the public and has committees that include hundreds of local citizens, he adds.
“We had opposition in previous years, and they worked themselves off council,” he says. “We are truly a middle-of-the-road council, and that’s why we’ve been so successful. … People say, ‘I like the way they do things. They’ve got a social conscience, but they are fiscally responsible.’ I don’t know why someone would be critical of a council that’s done a really good job.”
As evidence, Corrigan cites a recent Insights West poll, that showed Burnaby and the Tri-Cities tied for the top-ranked municipal government in the Lower Mainland, according to local residents. The same poll showed Corrigan’s approval rating at 67 per cent, second only to Dianne Watts in Surrey.
The city is in good financial shape, with more than $620 million in reserves and no debt.
And while Corrigan is clearly reaping the benefits of longtime support, he's not without his detractors. Corrigan takes a lot of heat in the media for Burnaby's lack of a homeless shelter, something folks have trouble wrapping their heads around. Corrigan’s position is that emergency shelters are for emergencies; they are not a solution to a much more complex problem that includes homeless people dealing with mental illness and addictions.
“It’s not a realistic solution because every day, that person gets released back on the street with their Safeway cart, running around thinking God is trying to talk to them, and the next night they either come back or they don’t,” he says. “What have we done for that person? Nothing.”
Corrigan points out that cities only receive eight cents on the tax dollar, while the other 92 per cent goes to the provincial and federal government, the two levels of government that are supposed to be dealing with the problem. For Burnaby to take on homelessness, the city would have to raise property taxes, he says. Corrigan agrees with the redistributing of wealth, but not from the poor to the poor.
“While we are struggling with these issues, the federal government is spending $35 billion on fighter planes. Now what’s wrong with this picture?” he asks. “We look after your parks, your roads, your recreation, your sewer. We look after your building, your police, your fire, your garbage. Everything you need to live in your community, we do for eight cents.”
That said, Corrigan does support co-op housing and treatment centres, like the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, and he’d like to see Riverview reopen as a place where people could get proper treatment and change their lives.
For Corrigan, politics is a lifelong love and his way of leaving a legacy for future generations.
That’s why the personal attacks still hurt his feelings, he says, but he takes pride in the fact the public trusts him after 27 years.
“And I wouldn’t ever, ever breach that trust, and they know that,” he says, with a serious tone. “If you can say that after 27 years of being in the public eye and under a microscope, then I think you have lived a worthwhile life.”
In the 2011 election, Corrigan secured more than 25,000 votes – that’s five times more than the runnerup from TEAM, the now defunct right-leaning party. Burnaby’s right-leaning politicos have regrouped and formed the Burnaby First Coalition.
With Corrigan’s track record and high approval rating, the question isn’t will he win, it’s whether the opposition can make a dent in BCA’s absolute majority.
Follow Jennifer Moreau on Twitter, @JenniferMoreau
