B.C.’s former deputy premier Rich Coleman is aiming for a political comeback on Oct. 15.
He announced Aug. 26 he is running under the banner of Elevate Langley in a bid to replace the retiring Township of Langley Mayor Jack Froese.
Elected six times as MLA, most recently in Langley East, Coleman didn’t run in the 2020 provincial election.
The Township of Langley mayor’s job pays $163,400 a year. According to the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation, he is eligible for a $109,000-a-year pension.
Coleman’s news release refers to a “team at Elevate Langley,” but it does not name names. The window for registering candidates for municipal election ballots is Aug. 30-Sept. 9.
“They’ve got innovative ideas and positive energy. I really enjoy working with them. Together we will raise the bar and deliver great results for Langley,” Coleman’s news release said.
Coleman was first elected in 1996. During his time in the 2001 to 2017 BC Liberal governments, he held a variety of cabinet posts, including Energy and Mines, Natural Gas Development, Housing, Social Development, Forests and Range, and Public Safety and solicitor general. When ex-premier Christy Clark resigned as leader after the 2017 election, Coleman spent the next seven months as interim BC Liberal leader.
His frequency as minister responsible for the marketing and regulation of gambling in B.C. led to his testimony at the Cullen Commission on Money Laundering, where he was grilled about his 2009 decision to shut down B.C.’s illegal gambling task force.
In the June-released final report, Justice Austin Cullen said he did not find evidence of political corruption, but officials failed to do their jobs to properly regulate casinos.
Coleman is challenging incumbent Langley Township councillors Blair Whitmarsh and Eric Woodward for the top job. Woodward has registered with Elections BC under the banner of Contract With Langley, which lists a Yaletown UPS outlet for its address.
Coleman is the latest in a list of current and former provincial politicians who have thrown their hats in the ring municipally.
Coleman’s announcement came at the end of a week in which another former BC Liberal solicitor general, Kash Heed, announced he would run for Richmond city council in a new party called Richmond Rise with former city councillor Derek Dang.
In neighbouring Surrey, ex-Coleman caucus mates Gordie Hogg and Brenda Locke are two of the five candidates aiming to knock-off Mayor Doug McCallum. Surrey Panorama MLA Jinny Sims, the former NDP Citizens’ Services Minister, is another.
Although he has never held public office, Vancouver mayoral candidate Mark Marissen worked as a backroom strategist on Coleman-chaired BC Liberal election campaigns. Marissen remained a campaign adviser to Clark after their marriage ended and is one of Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s four challengers.
