Liberals not worried by vote shift

Liberals not worried by vote shift
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby NOW assistant editor
Published Nov. 24, 2002

The B.C. Liberals are putting their best face forward after the apparent defeat of their allies in civic elections around the Lower Mainland last weekend.
Besides the probable defeat of former B.C. Liberal candidate Helen Sparkes as New Westminster mayor - a decision to hold a recount will be announced this week - almost all of the Liberal- aligned politicians were defeated in Burnaby and Vancouver.
In Burnaby, former Liberal campaign manager Brian Bonney failed to win the mayor's seat, while former NDP MLA Pietro Calendino made a comeback as the second most popular vote-getter on the new city council.
Current Burnaby North MLA Richard Lee denied claims that Calendino's election might be a sign that voters are rejecting the B.C. Liberal's policies.
"No, I don't think so," Lee said this week. "Pietro has worked for Burnaby for a number of years, and a lot of people know about him, and also, I think I'm looking forward to working with Pietro to serve all the people of Burnaby.
"We're hearing from both sides," Lee said. "I think overall, the direction of the government a lot of people agree with. These changes are to make better services to the long term to the people of British Columbia. In the short term, there are difficulties sometimes in terms of some reductions in certain areas, but we are working very hard to keep a lot of those services and to have more benefits for British Columbians in the long term."
Burnaby-Edmonds MLA Patty Sahota said people will interpret the result any way they see fit.
"If you want to look at New Westminster and Vancouver, obviously there were some changes. But if you look at Richmond, Surrey, Port Moody and Coquitlam, you'll see the same people," she said. "So you can't just take any city and analyze it any way you want.
"But I'd like to say I'm looking forward to working with the new mayor-elect. We had a good relationship with mayor Drummond, and we're looking forward to good relations with Derek Corrigan and the rest of council. Generally speaking, we're going to try and work together."
Burquitlam MLA Harry Bloy said the results speak for themselves.
"When we won, the people spoke, and now the people spoke again in Burnaby when they elected eight good people to council," he said.
New Westminster MLA Joyce Murray also does not believe the probable defeat of Sparkes in New Westminster is a repudiation of the provincial government. "No, I don't. I think there are people who are unhappy about the changes we're making and many, many people are telling us to stay the course."