Burnaby residents must sharpen their voting pencils and prepare to vote for city council and school board in this year’s civic election on Oct. 15.
The Burnaby council table has one mayoral seat and eight councillors’ seats to fill, while the Burnaby Board of Education looks to fill seven trustee spots.
With three civic political parties in town, you can choose from the NDP-affiliated Burnaby Citizens Association (BCA), the Liberal-adjacent One Burnaby, the Burnaby Green Party or an independent candidate.
The BCA and Greens are running school board candidates; One Burnaby is not.
The campaign season will officially begin on Sept. 17. The city has more information on election season on its website.
In-person advance voting days will be Oct. 1, Oct. 5 and Oct. 8. Election day is Oct. 15.
Below is a running list of declared candidates in alphabetical order, including any party affiliations.
The city has also compiled a list of council candidates, school board candidates, and the sole mayoral candidate, along with photos and video.
Biographical snippets below are not intended to reflect the full breadth of candidates’ resumés. More complete biographies and other election-related information will be posted over the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned.
Who’s running for Burnaby mayor
Mike Hurley, independent (incumbent): Hurley is in his first term as mayor of Burnaby. He began working as a firefighter in Burnaby in 1988 and served as president of the Burnaby Firefighters Association and president of the BC Professional Fire Fighters Association.
Hurley is running unopposed — if no one challenges his campaign by Sept. 19, he will be sworn in for a new term as mayor with the rest of the councillors and school trustees on Nov. 2, according to Burnaby’s chief election officer Lynne Axford.
Who’s running for Burnaby city council
Ken Arnold, independent: Arnold is the owner of an HVAC company which he began 27 years ago and has volunteered with PADS assistance dog service training for 15 years.
Reah Arora, Burnaby Citizens Association: Arora is a social justice activist and director of organizing and campaigns with the BC Federation of Labour. She previously worked in the Office of the Premier in Alberta’s provincial government.
Pietro Calendino, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Calendino is in his fifth term as councillor after a 30-year career as a teacher and serving as MLA for Burnaby North from 1996-2001.
Antara Deb, Burnaby Citizens Association: Deb is an advocate for vulnerable women, seniors and families in Burnaby, working as an IT advisor for BC Hydro. She has worked as the director of New Vista Health Care and Housing.
Sav Dhaliwal, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Dhaliwal has been a councillor since 2002. Prior to local politics, he worked in information technology at Telus and has worked with a variety of Burnaby non-profits.
Gulam Firdos, independent: Firdos is a city planner with more than 35 years of experience. He was the former president of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners and a member of the Planning Institute of British Columbia.
Mona Grewal, One Burnaby: Grewal is an interior designer with a diploma from BCIT and co-owns an architecture and design company.
Alison Gu, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Gu is a first-term councillor, elected in the 2021 byelection. She is an environmentalist and previously worked for MPs in Ottawa and Burnaby-Deer Lake MLA Anne Kang.
Mike Hillman, One Burnaby (incumbent): Hillman is a first-term councillor, elected in the 2021 byelection. He was bid co-leader and VP operations of Expo ’86 and has worked on various election campaigns.
Joe Keithley, Burnaby Green Party (incumbent): Keithley is a first-term councillor, elected in 2018. He is a social activist and the founder and leader of punk band D.O.A. He has coached youth sports in Burnaby.
Martin Kendell, independent: Kendell has worked for the City of Vancouver for more than 10 years and is a strata council president in Burnaby. He leads the volunteer community group Clean Up Burnaby.
Richard T. Lee, One Burnaby: Lee was MLA for Burnaby North from 2001-2017. He previously worked as a programmer analyst at TRIUMF, a particle research facility.
Richard N. Liu, One Burnaby: Liu was Canada’s team attaché at the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games and is currently the honorary brigade division president for St. John Ambulance (Burnaby). He sits on Burnaby’s heritage commission.
Carrie McLaren, Burnaby Green Party: McLaren works in co-operative housing management and was a director of a non-profit housing organization in Burnaby for six years.
Mario Miceli, One Burnaby: Miceli is the executive director of the Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver and worked at ICBC for about 20 years in various strategic positions.
Jasmine Nicholsfigueiredo, Burnaby Green Party: Nicholsfigueiredo is an educator at Douglas College and a union president at the Douglas College Faculty Association. She has lived in Burnaby for 20 years.
MichaelAngelo Robinhood, independent: Robinhood is an entrepreneur and small business owner of a construction company based in Burnaby
Konstantine Roccas, independent: Roccas has lived in Burnaby for over 15 years and has an undergraduate degree from Simon Fraser University and a master’s degree in journalism from UBC.
Brea Huang Sami, One Burnaby: Sami is a financial auditor and designated CPA, with more than 10 years of experience working in firms like KPMG and DMCL. She has lived in Burnaby for 17 years.
Maita Santiago, Burnaby Citizens Association: Santiago is a Filipino community leader and immigration consultant living in the Metrotown area and has worked on Burnaby’s social issues committee and sub-committee on childcare.
Tara Shushtarian, Burnaby Green Party: Shushtarian sits on Burnaby’s environment committee and is a member of non-profit boards including the West Coast Climate Action Network and Fair Vote Canada.
Deborah Skerry, independent: Skerry has 25 years of experience of working in public safety and more than 40 years of experience in public service, including at Statistics Canada, Elections Canada and Elections B.C.
Tom Tao, independent: Tao is a retired businessman who has lived in Burnaby since 1998.
Daniel Tetrault, Burnaby Citizens Association: Tetrault is a teacher and current president of the Burnaby Teachers Association. He sat on Burnaby’s housing task force in 2019.
Scott Van Denham, independent: Van Denham is a 44-year resident of Burnaby who was part of a movement to stop a coal port across the Fraser River from Burnaby.
James Wang, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Wang is a second-term councillor, after serving as a trustee on the Burnaby Board of Education. He immigrated to Canada in 1996 after a career as an architect in China.
Heymann Yip, independent: Yip formerly owned Pro Mark Marketing Inc., a grocery distribution company. He sits on Burnaby’s public safety committee and the RCMP’s community policing advisory committee.
Who’s running for Burnaby school board:
Bill Brassington, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Brassington is a first-term trustee on the school board, after serving as a chairperson on the Gilmore Community School Council.
Peter Cech, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Cech is a first-term trustee, previously sitting on Burnaby’s Sustainable City Advisory Committee and Traffic Safety, Transportation and Environment Committees.
Jeff Courson, Burnaby Green Party: Courson is a Metis lawyer who served with the Canadian Armed Forces. He practiced law in northern B.C. before returning to Burnaby.
Rocky Dong, independent: Dong was a director of an international department at a public post-secondary school, and has worked to connect international students to high schools and universities in Canada and the U.S.
Larry Hayes, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Hayes is in his sixth term as trustee. He’s a community activist involved in youth sports, education and volunteerism.
Paul Kwon, independent: Kwon works for UBC and the Canadian Armed Forces. He serves as commissioner on the Burnaby heritage commission and as a board member of the UBC staff pension plan.
Jen Mezei, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Mezei is a first-term trustee and currently serves as the board’s chair. She previously served as Burnaby District Parent Advisory Chair and as president of the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils.
Harinder Parmar, Burnaby Green Party: Parmar was a flight attendant for Air Transat before moving back to Burnaby. She has been active in the Burnaby school system since 2010 and currently sits on the executive of the Burnaby DPAC, where she is a representative for Burnaby North.
Mikelle Sasakamoose, Burnaby Citizens Association: Sasakamoose is a member of the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation and is also Secwepemc and Syilx. She is a federal public servant working in Indigenous relations, a board member with the SFU Childcare Society and sits on Burnaby’s parks commission.
Kristin Schnider, Burnaby Citizens Association: Schnider is an active volunteer with the Burnaby School District and has been a parent representative on the District Parent Advisory Council for more than 10 years.
Spenser Sproul, independent: Sproul is a risk management professional at VanCity and was raised in Burnaby. He has a BA from McGill University and an MA from Ritsumeikan University in Japan.
Gary Wong, Burnaby Citizens Association (incumbent): Wong is a fourth-term trustee who has worked as a business agent with the United Steelworkers. He has volunteered with the Burnaby Public Library and Burnaby Family Life Institute.
