Meet 12 new Metro Vancouver mayors. How will they run our municipalities?

Two-thirds of Metro Vancouver’s 21 municipalities have new mayors following Saturday’s municipal election.

In addition to mayor-elect Pete Fry in Vancouver and Doug McCallum in Surrey, here is a brief look at the 12 other new leaders who will be running local cities.

Political newcomer Melissa Granum emerged as a lion slayer, resoundingly beating incumbent Mayor George Harvie and incumbent Coun. Dylan Kruger by 20 percentage points each in the race for mayor.

Delta’s politics had been dominated by public squabbling between Harvie and Kruger. Granum decried the “dysfunction at the council table” and promised to do things differently.

“This has been a grassroots effort. It has been about everyday residents working together for change,” she said.

Previously Granum was corporate secretary at the B.C. Lottery Corporation, and worked with the Delta and Surrey police boards.

Three of the six newly elected councillors are from her Delta First party.

As a councillor, Daniel Fontaine was a vocal critic of incumbent Mayor Patrick Johnstone, then ran against him for the city’s top job. Fontaine emerged victorious, taking down his rival by 11 percentage points.

His party also captured five of the six council seats, giving him a solid majority on council.

This will be a major change for this city, which has historically elected centre-left mayors. Fontaine is a fiscal conservative.

He promised to build a “more economically vibrant city” and to spend on housing affordability, public safety, parks and recreation facilities and infrastructure, while keeping tax increases to within inflation.

Rob Howard squeezed out a narrow 1.6 percentage point victory over Alexa Loo on a night in which no one else from his slate was elected to council.

Howard was a Richmond councillor from 2001 to 2008 and one-term MLA for Richmond Centre with the B.C. Liberals.

Buoyed by an endorsement from popular outgoing mayor Malcolm Brodie, Howard must find a way to work for the next four years with eight city councillors representing four different civic parties.

“To the newly elected members of council, regardless of affiliation, I extend my hand in co-operation,” he said.

Kirk LaPointe was a thorn in the side of incumbent mayor Mark Sager, not as a councillor but as a longtime journalist. When he challenged Sager, who has faced a number of controversies, Lapointe won by 12 percentage points.

“I think people just hadn’t seen the progress that they wanted in the last council,” Lapointe said.

He pledged to work with the three incumbent councillors and three newcomers elected to council.

Lapointe promises to review the city’s 2027 budget and reduce a proposed municipal tax increase.

He’ll also have to address the need for affordable housing in a city dominated by single-family homes.

Haven Lurbiecki, a one-term councillor, took on incumbent Mayor Meghan Lahti and pulled off a tight, five-percentage-point victory.

The new council includes one member of Lurbiecki’s Port Moody Voice party and five other councillors with no party affiliation.

While Lahti favoured growth and development, Lurbiecki ran against a plan to build 14 residential towers. She said council’s first order of business will be to examine those plans and find alternative solutions to the towers.

“People recognize that Port Moody is a very special place that welcomes growth, but growth that fits the needs of our community,” she said.

Craig Hodge, a four-term councillor, ran against his two-term colleague Trish Mandewo to replace the retiring 18-year mayor, Richard Stewart. Hodge won in a landslide, by 32 percentage points.

He will govern with four incumbent councillors and four newcomers, none with party affiliations.

“We’re all independents here in Coquitlam, and so one of the things that I think that we do really well is to have a difference of opinions and come to consensus on what’s best for our residents,” he said.

One of Hodge’s priorities is to manage growth in the expanding city, including demands for affordable housing and amenities.

Business executive and hockey coach Jay Lundgren unseated one-term incumbent Mayor Eric Woodward, winning by more than eight percentage points.

Lundgren’s Langley Strong party won six of eight council seats as well.

He pledged to bring the Township’s soaring debt under control with an audit and to deliver a responsible budget. He also promised improved consultation with residents before council makes major decisions.

“The door at Township Hall will be kicked open, and I will keep it open” he said. “You do not have to agree with me or any mayor to be treated with respect by your own Township.”

Delaney Mack, a one-term councillor, upset 10-year incumbent Mayor Nathan Pachal in a decisive 22-percentage-point victory.

Five of six elected councillors are with her neophyte Achieving for Langley City party.

“What a tremendous honour for me and my team,” said Mack, a small-business owner. “We are ready to get to work and focused on delivering for residents.”

Her platform focused on finances. She promised a line-by-line review of the budget to combat taxes and address expensive “add-ons.”

The mayors of Langley City and Township must also prepare for significant growth when the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension is completed in 2029.

Chris Shields, former chair of the B.C. Real Estate Association, defeated Susan Bains, a councillor since a 2025 byelection, by a margin of 16.5 percentage points.

Incumbent Mayor Megan Knight did not run for re-election.

Shields will have the challenge of governing with five councillors elected under Bains’ Together for White Rock party, plus an independent councillor.

He ran on a platform of revitalizing the city’s popular pier, “housing choices for all,” economic revitalization, and stopping the “infighting” on council.

“Thank you,” Shields posted on Facebook Sunday. “I promise to carry your trust with me into City Hall every single day.”

Businessman Jerry Kok triumphed over incumbent mayor and former MP Dan Ruimy, with a 16-percentage-point margin of victory.

Kok, who has no party affiliation, will work with two councillors elected under Ruimy’s A Better Maple Ridge party and four independents.

Kok’s campaign website said his future vision is for the city to support businesses, find “creative ways” to improve affordability, and thrive economically.

“The election may be over, but we’re just getting started. I’m grateful for your support and excited to work with our new council and community to build the best Maple Ridge,” he posted Sunday on Facebook.

The council elected in 2022 was described as dysfunctional, with the departure of several senior municipal employees and then Mayor Ken Berry banned from publishing his weekly mayor’s message.

In 2026, Berry did not seek re-election, with two councillors, Ron McLaughlin and Michael Broughton, vying for his job. McLaughlin won with 371 votes, compared to 329 for his rival.

Only one incumbent councillor was re-elected, with three new faces joining the council table.

On his campaign website, McLaughlin promised to “rebuild a respectful collaborative approach” on council. “You will not hear me bad mouth or spread gossip in and around this village.”

When incumbent Mayor John McEwen opted to run for the B.C. Conservatives in the provincial election, his only challenger, Coun. Doug Richardson, was acclaimed as the new mayor-elect.

He will govern with four new councillors, with none of the incumbent councillors being re-elected.

On his Facebook page, Richardson, the retired CEO of a green technology company, promised to collaborate with residents to build the village’s next community plan.

“Anmore is a unique community, and I want to protect what makes it our home,” he said. “We need a mayor, council and staff who will work as a team to include the voices of Anmore residents.”