Derek Corrigan, of the Burnaby Citizens Association, is running for re-election as mayor in the coming Nov. 19 municipal election.Brett Beadle for The Globe and Mail
Four times, Derek Corrigan put his name forward as a candidate for Burnaby City Council. Four times, he lost.
"My wife thought I should give up, that the voters really didn't like me," Mr. Corrigan recalled, recently.
But he did run again, and in 1987, Mr. Corrigan finally won his long-coveted place at the council table. Since then, the irascible, outspoken politician, who seems to relish rubbing the fur of his opponents the wrong way, has been invincible.
A councillor for 15 years, followed by nine years as mayor, Mr. Corrigan presides over an enviable political machine, the Burnaby Citizens Association, that has controlled the city for the past 24 years. In 2008, the BCA claimed a clean sweep of all 16 council and school-board positions up for grabs.
If there is a municipal – albeit elected – czar in the Lower Mainland, Mr. Corrigan is it.
And, one month shy of turning 60, Mr. Corrigan is neither mellowing nor contemplating retirement.
"My desire for symmetry makes me kind of wish for 15 years as mayor and 30 years having served this city," he mused, leaving a visitor to note that means another six years of Corrigan at city hall.
"If I win this time, it will also make me the longest serving mayor in Burnaby's history, and I certainly would like that."
Mr. Corrigan is a sure bet to prevail again this November. His weak opposition includes independents Sylvia Gung and Allen Hutton, plus businessman Tom Tao, standard-bearer for rival municipal party, Team Burnaby.
In 2008, as an independent, Mr. Tao received just 1 per cent of the votes in his bid for council. Team Burnaby spokesman Lee Rankin is undeterred. "If you don't try to change history, history doesn't change. Things can happen."
Meanwhile, Mr. Corrigan has lost none of his take-no-prisoners, verbal bite. Warm and cuddly, he is not.
Earlier this month, he lashed out at neighbouring mayors for approving a tax plan to raise money for the Evergreen Line, calling them sheep who'd been "herded" and "sheared" by the provincial government.
He regularly rails at Vancouver and had a bitter, celebrated feud with then-transportation-minister Kevin Falcon, over Mr. Falcon's push for the Canada Line to be built ahead of the Evergreen Line, which had been the region's rapid-transit priority.
Years later, Mr. Corrigan, a long-time member of the NDP, still insists he was right,
"Kevin Falcon has to be one of the most vicious politicians in British Columbia. … I don't think I should be blamed for irritating him," Mr. Corrigan said. "The people who refused to stand up to him, they're all gone, defeated in the next election. I stood up strongly to him, and I'm still here."
Mr. Falcon, now the Finance Minister, hasn't forgotten, either.
"He [Mr. Corrigan]is constantly negative about everything," he said Monday. "I'm not going to lose any sleep about Derek Corrigan not being in my fan club [and I'm not in his]"
Mr. Corrigan said the people of Burnaby appreciate his directness. "They want someone who's forthright," he said. "Many politicians are afraid to have opinions, because they fear they might offend somebody, but I think people here are happy to know where I stand, even if they don't always agree."
The current mayor has much else in favour of re-election. Burnaby is debt-free, Mr. Corrigan was declared a "green champion" by the Canadian Federation of Municipalities, and a 2009 survey by Maclean's tabbed Burnaby as the best-run city in Canada.
Mr. Rankin, a past council veteran, agreed that his Team Burnaby organization has an uphill fight ahead.
"But we've had success in the past. Our main message is: it's better to have people from two or more parties on council to keep them honest."
The soft side of Mr. Corrigan appears when asked what keeps him going. "I've been asked a thousand times [to run for the NDP] but I love municipal politics and I love my city.
"We have an impact on the day-to-day life of citizens in this community, and to be able to do that for so many years is a tremendous accomplishment."