Greens’ Keithley quits Burnaby race in bid to unite vote against mayor

The Green party’s mayoral candidate in Burnaby, Joe Keithley, is stepping aside to clear the path for a head-on race between another candidate and longtime Mayor Derek Corrigan.

Keithley said he believes his stepping aside is the best way to defeat Corrigan, who heads up the Burnaby Citizens’ Association, a dominant force in Burnaby politics for decades.

Retired firefighter Mike Hurley, an independent, declared his candidacy for mayor on June 28 after Keithley had done so in March.

The decision was a practical matter, Keithley, a punk rock musician, said Saturday in an interview.

Keithley said Hurley, who recently was endorsed by the New Westminster and District Labour Council, has a better chance of unseating Corrigan, a five-term mayor of 16 years.

“For me, honestly, it was going to be an uphill battle against Corrigan,” said Keithley.

Instead, Keithley will run for a seat as a city councillor along with Green party candidates Rick McGowan and Carrie McLaren.

Keithley said he reached out to Hurley earlier this week, had a long discussion and determined they shared a lot of the same values.

The Green party, which plans to run a slate of four to five candidates in Burnaby, is particularly concerned about housing affordability, an issue also part of Hurley’s platform.

Hurley said he believed Keithley’s decision to step away from the mayor’s race would be a boost to his campaign.

“It’s humbling,” he said. Housing affordability is likely to be a key issue in the Burnaby municipal campaign as it will be throughout Greater Vancouver where detached homes average more than $1 million and condominium prices have also soared.

Hundreds of people have been displaced from older, low-rise apartments in Burnaby, largely in the Metrotown area, as they are demolished and replaced with highrise towers.