British Columbians voting in local elections today

VANCOUVER — Local elections will be held across British Columbia today. Here are some races to watch:

• Nanaimo: The election could trigger a provincial byelection if Leonard Krog, a New Democrat member of the legislature, wins the race for mayor and gives up his seat at the legislature. It wouldn’t be enough to tip the balance of power into the Liberals’ favour against an NDP minority government that’s propped up by the Greens, but it would bring it to the brink. The Liberals have 42 seats in the house, the New Democrats 41, the Greens have three seats and there is one Independent.

• Victoria: Incumbent Lisa Helps has courted controversy through the campaign season, first with the decision to remove a sculpture of John A. Macdonald from city hall and later when the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner claimed she and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins rushed to conclude an internal investigation against former police chief Frank Elsner. Helps is defending her record against challengers that include political consultant Mike Geoghegan and lawyer Stephen Hammond.

• Surrey: Public safety and policing has emerged as one of voters’ prime concerns in Surrey, where a task force aimed a preventing gang violence recently recommended more police enforcement. Mayor Linda Hepner isn’t running.

• Burnaby: Opposing the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has dominated Mayor Derek Corrigan’s fiveterm tenure in recent years. He’s facing competition from former firefighter Mike Hurley and respondents to one recent poll put housing ahead of the pipeline as the city’s top issue.