If, as TEAM candidate Lee Rankin characterized it, the Burnaby election this year was "David versus Goliath" - well, Goliath just rewrote history.
Rankin was telling the Burnaby NOW that the Burnaby Citizens Association
was using a "cult of personality" in its campaign - the personality being Mayor Derek Corrigan.
There's no denying that Corrigan is taking on a larger-than-life persona. The irascible mayor is often a love him or "well, at least be strongly irritated by him" kind of politician. He runs the city on a tight leash, and given that BCA now owns both school board and city hall, we doubt if he will loosen the reins.
And that's too bad. Because although Corrigan, understandably, sees a betterrun Burnaby via a single-minded political group, we don't agree. No one party, or person, or mayor has all the answers. And, aside from that obvious assertion that shutting out the "other side" (whatever the other side represents in a democracy) may be expedient for the short term, we believe that for the long term it creates an unsustainable lopsided model.
To the BCA's credit, it has striven to create a more diverse leadership. But some of those elected officials have had lacklustre performances, to say the least. They appear to be happy riding on the mayor's, or their fellow politicos', coattails, and just raising their hands when told to.
As Rick McGowan of the Greens said: "Everyone understands the importance of having an effective opposition, regardless of how efficient an unopposed government is."
Well, not quite everyone.
