Some new B.C. mayors are familiar, others mark historic firsts after municipal vote

Vancouver's skyline is seen in an image from CTV News Vancouver's Pete Cline captured in May 2019 from Chopper 9

Nearly half of British Columbia's 162 cities, towns, districts and villages have a new mayor-elect after municipal elections wrapped up this weekend, but some of the new faces are very familiar and, in one case, there's been no decision at all.

When the acclaimed mayors and re-elected incumbents are taken from the mix, just under 80 new mayors await inauguration, expected next month.

Some of them are no stranger to the job, including John Ranta in Cache Creek, Herb Pond in Prince Rupert and Mark Sager in West Vancouver, who all held the post before.

Simon Yu in Prince George joins Ken Sim in Vancouver, as both men become the first with Chinese ancestry elected as mayor of their cities.

Along with Prince George and Vancouver, other major B.C. cities with new mayors include Victoria, Surrey, Abbotsford, Kelowna, Kamloops and Prince Rupert.

But in Canal Flats, residents may have to wait a little longer for an outcome as the two contenders, Doug McCutcheon and Mark Doherty, each received 158 votes, forcing either a run-off election or a drawing of lots, if that East Kootenay community's election bylaw permits.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2022.