Delta Election: A grudge match between the mayor and his former ally, or a third option?
Type and pace of development in city is one of the big issues in the city of 110,000
By John Mackie
Last updated 3 hours ago
During the last civic election in Delta in 2022, Mayor George Harvie and his Achieving for Delta party cleaned up.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
- Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.
- Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.
- Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.
- Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
- Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
- Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.
- Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.
- Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.
- Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
- Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
- Access articles from across Canada with one account.
- Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
- Enjoy additional articles per month.
- Get email updates from your favourite authors.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
- Access articles from across Canada with one account
- Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments
- Enjoy additional articles per month
- Get email updates from your favourite authors
Sign In or Create an Account
Harvie was re-elected with 77 per cent of the vote, and Achieving for Delta candidates took all six council seats.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Delta Election: A grudge match between the mayor and his former ally, or a third option? Back to video
tap here to see other videos from our team.
But things have changed.
In 2024, four councillors from Harvie’s own party stripped Harvie of his role on Metro Vancouver’s board, where he had been chair. They also tightened controls on the mayor’s office.
Subsequently, they were all kicked out of the party.
Now Dylan Kruger — who many once saw as Harvie’s heir apparent — is running against Harvie for mayor. Kruger is leading another party, One Delta, which includes three former councillors who helped oust Harvie from Metro, Daniel Boisvert, Jennifer Johal and Rod Binder.
Harvie is running alongside the two councillors who stuck by his side, Alicia Guichon and Jessie Dosanjh, and four new candidates.
But the election is more than just a grudge match between two former allies.
A third party, Delta First, has entered the fray, with Melissa Granum running for mayor, and three council candidates. Granum has some big endorsements — two former mayors (Lois Jackson and Beth Johnson) and former MLA Vicki Huntington.
Having been mayor for two terms and the city manager for two decades before that, Harvie wants to stay the course. Others may argue Delta has become too developer-friendly, but he thinks the city is working.
“My platform the last election is the same as the election this time,” said Harvie. “I said that we need highrises if a developer wants to build them along Scott Road. Why? Because finally we’ve got some rapid bus transit there. When you look at other areas, I don’t support anything more than six storeys, because we don’t have the traffic infrastructure to support it.”
He says he has been “fiscally responsible.”
“My whole success of my long career was being fiscally responsible, and that’s not called Density George,” said Harvie. “It’s actually being smart in ensuring that people are getting the rightful use of their tax dollars in our city.”
Kruger said the city does need density.
“We need new housing,” said Kruger. “We need housing for young families that want to make a start in our community. We need housing for seniors that are looking to downsize and aren’t finding any options. But there has to be balance, and control has to remain with the locally elected officials.”
Both Harvie and Kruger supported Delta’s official community plan, which the city was required to update by the provincial government’s Bill 44, which required local governments to increase density.
Both Harvie and Kruger dislike Bill 44, but the community plan does allow some density, such as multiple units on formerly single-family lots.
Granum thinks the official community plan was rushed and needs to be revisited.
“I’ve knocked on thousands of doors at this point, and people are upset about how we’re developing,” said Granum.
“I’ve not had a single person tell me they don’t want or like development. What people want is development that makes sense in the community, and they don’t feel heard.”
She notes that “over the last few years, our current city council has removed public question period from council meetings and has eliminated almost all citizen advisory committees.” She would restore them both.
That said, the deciding issue in the Delta election may be the Harvie/Kruger split.
“I felt betrayed,” said Harvie. “They never talked to me about it. There was no advance warning.”
Harvie’s take is that Kruger came out against him when the 75-year-old Harvie decided to run for mayor again rather than retire.
“When I announced that I was seriously considering running again for next term, that’s when the fallout happened,” said Harvie. “It was (Kruger). He absolutely (had) his own plan to be the next mayor.”
Kruger said the split was because Harvie “was increasingly out of touch with everyday issues in our community.”
He said part of the problem was Harvie being chair of Metro Vancouver.
“He was flying around the world in first-class seats,” Kruger said, adding that while with Metro, Harvie had spent tens of thousands of dollars on travel abroad.
“That is an example of a culture shift that was happening with regards to lack of respect for other people’s money, and we saw this happening time and time again.”
Harvie rejects this.
“I was not out of touch with my community here in Delta,” he states. ” I ran every single council meeting. I didn’t miss any council meetings. And if I was doing such a bad job at Metro, why did they acclaim me?
“Yes, I took two trips. Many members of (Metro) did also. My trip to Australia, for example, I went there not as the mayor of Delta. I went there as the chair of Metro. (The cost was) divided amongst the 21 member municipalities and cities. The net cost to the city of Delta for that trip was $2,500. I can tell you that nobody at Metro ever flew first class. We did go business class, and that’s only allowed when you’re flying outside of North America.”
Granum thinks Delta voters are tired of Harvie and Kruger sniping at each other.
“They had their very public falling out two years ago, which created incredible public dysfunction at the council table,” said Granum, who took a leave from her job as director of board governance at B.C. Lottery Corp. to run for mayor. She has also worked with the Delta and Surrey police boards.
“Part of the reason I’m running is because I got tired of watching that dysfunction. You need to deal with those issues, because you’re elected to represent your community. Not to fight with each other, but to fight for Delta, and that’s not happening right now.”
Whoever wins will have some big issues to deal with, such as the Pacific Link oil pipeline that will pass through Delta. There is also the ongoing saga of a replacement for the Massey Tunnel.
