Politics is a game of beautiful uncertainties. Essentially mandated to serve people at large, politicians are known for  sudden shifts in their roles. The shifts are mostly induced by denial of roles they wanted to perform. Being a Federal or a Provincial Minister once, some find it little hard to subsequently adjust  as an elected representative alone. There may be other reasons for changing priorities or offices they want to hold in a system full of opportunities for those who have enjoyed electoral success at some level. It keeps them moving ahead, eyeing new opportunities. It is perhaps the dynamics of politics that has seen many senior parliamentarians opting to serve their local communities as Mayors. Most recent example has been  Andrea Horwath, who until  last month was in the running  for Premiership of Ontario as the leader of the NDP,  is  now running for mayor in Hamilton to help the city “realize its potential.” In British Columbia, long time MP from Surrey Newton, Sukh Dhaliwal, has also announced his candidature for Mayor of Surrey. Another former MP and MPP, Jinny Sims, too, is in the running for Mayor of Surrey, the second biggest city of British Columbia.

Mayoral elections are due in October.

Andrea Horwath, the former leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) has  announced to quit her post as  Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton Centre to enter the mayoral race. She says the work she has done all her political life is for her city of Hamilton. It would be a really exciting time to be part of the realization of the great opportunities that are ahead,  she told select media ahead of her public announcement. Horwath joins three others in the race for the job: former mayor Bob Bratina, newcomer to politics Keanin Loomis and labor advocate Ejaz Butt. Current Mayor Fred Eisenberger announced last month he would not be seeking re-election.

Horwath, born and raised in the city, was Ward 2 city councilor from 1997 to 2004 before becoming Hamilton East MPP for the NDP. In 2007, she became Hamilton Centre MPP and eventually leader of the Ontario NDP.

During her time as leader, she helped the NDP go from not having official party status to being official opposition twice. The party won 40 seats in 2018 but the recent election in June saw that number decrease to 31. She announced her resignation as party leader the evening of June 2 within hours of the declaration of the results.

If she wins the Mayoral election, she will be the first woman in 175 years to do so. Many believe that change of course followed Horwath’s unsuccessful attempt to become Ontario premier. Coming to British Columbia, where the leadership race has been thrown open by Premier Horgan deciding to quit before next leadership election for which  eight of Ministers have said  no to join the race, decks are almost clear for the Attorney General David Eby to be the next Premier.

Olympian-turned politician and Job Minister Ravi Kahlon who was considered a possible choice for Premiership has already  said he would not  run . He has, instead, supported his cabinet colleague David Eby for the top spot.

After Ravi Kahlon made clear his position, several other Ministers including Finance Minister Selina Robinson, Health Minister Adrian Dix,  Lands Minister Josie Osborne, Municipal Affairs Minister Nathan Cullen, Tourism Minister Melanie Mark, Minister of State for Infrastructure Bowinn Ma and Minister of State for Childcare Katrina Chen, have said they will not run for leadership.

This leaves the field open for David Eby. His election may be unanimous as of today there appears to be no other candidate willing to join the leadership race. Since no one was coming forward, the announcement  made by David Eby about his candidature for the Premiership ended weeks of speculation over who might replace John Horgan as party leader and premier of British Columbia. Interestingly  all other high-profile New Democrats have bowed out of this fall’s leadership election. As of now, David Eby  looks the frontrunner and perhaps  the only candidate for the leadership to be decided on December 3.  Born in Kitchener, David Eby will turn 46 on Thursday (today).

Yet another Member of Parliament has decided to run for Mayoral post. This time, it is none other than Sukh Dhaliwal, the sitting MP from Surrey Newton. He made his decision known on Monday that he will be joining the race for the position of Mayor of Surrey, the second largest city of British Columbia. Before him, three MPs, including ex-MPs, have moved from federal to local politics. One of them, who was a cabinet minister in the previous Justin Trudeau Government, Amarjit Sohi, is Mayor of Edmonton.

Another ex-MP, Jinny Sims, who after a stint in the House of Commons, moved to provincial politics, has now decided to opt for local politics. She had announced her candidature for the post of Mayor of Surrey last month.

Bal Gosal, who incidentally was one of the first MPs, to try his luck in Mayoral politics, was unsuccessful in the Indian-immigrant rich city of Brampton from where Patrick Brown was elected Mayor in the last elections.

Incidentally, Patrick Brown, who was in the run for the Conservative Party leadership but faced “disqualification” on grounds of violating the election laws, has announced his decision to re-run for the Mayoral post in October.

The race for Surrey mayor, however, has assumed special importance as it is set to witness a quadrangular contest involving a former NDP MP, Jinny Sims, current sitting MP Sukh Dhaliwal, Councilor Brenda Locke and incumbent Mayor Doug McCallum.

Sukh Dhaliwal’s decision to move back from Ottawa to Surrey came after months of deliberations and speculation. “Over the last four years, we have seen divisive politics, unprecedented division, partisanship, no focus on the citizens of Surrey,” he said.

Calling Surrey’s current council “secretive” and “biased,” Dhaliwal added that he plans to “repair a divided city,” media reports quoting him from his Monday’s Press Conference said. Dhaliwal has run against Sims in three federal elections and was a key organizer for McCallum when he was first mayor in the 1990s. Dhaliwal  announced his action plan while setting his election campaign in motion.

If elected, he says, there will be a roll back of a $200 increase to the yearly parcel tax that Surrey council enacted in 2020, besides “an immediate one-year tax freeze.” This will help the people that need the help now, because we are going through unprecedented uncertainty, he said. To meet the loss on account of tax cut, Dhaliwal hopes to meet it through Surrey’s accumulated surplus  that would facilitate the changes. “We have accumulated wealth, almost $300 million and we can use that money that we have accumulated to make sure that we are able to help the ones that need the most by freezing those taxes,” he told a section of media.

Dhaliwal said he has no intention of reversing the biggest development of McCallum’s tenure — the transition to an independent municipal police force from the Surrey RCMP. While Locke is promising to overturn the transition and Sims has promised to study the details before making a decision, Dhaliwal says the move is too far underway to reverse now.

“It is my understanding that almost 300 people are already hired in the city police. We have come a long way.”

With Sukh Dhaliwal joining the race, it could split the strong Indo-Canadian community in the second largest city of British Columbia. If it happens, the chances of incumbent McCallum winning another term in office may brighten up.  Academicians and other experts also hold that Surrey residents may also want a clean slate after McCallum dominated news headlines for many years in controversial ways, including a criminal charge for mischief that won’t be fought in court until after the election. The field is still open for more candidates to join the Mayoral race  as a former White Rock mayor, MLA and MP Gordie Hogg, may also throw his hat in the ring.

(Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered  Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows. For more in-depth analysis please visit probingeye.com  or follow him on Twitter.com/probingeye. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)