From Burnaby to Coquitlam

Former Burnaby-New Westminster Liberal candidate Gerry Lenoski is going to take a run at being the New Westminster-Coquitlam by-election candidate for the Ignatieff Liberals. Lenoski squares off against Ken Beck Lee at the Executive Plaza Hotel in Coquitlam on August 4.

Lenoski, who was communications chair of Michael Ignatieff's 2006 B.C. leadership campaign, rode the Liberal collapse in B.C. to just 15.4% of the vote in Burnaby-New Westminster last October. Even during the last election Lenoski was hoping Ignatieff would take charge of the party.

Lenoski, a veteran Liberal who worked for Liberal governments in the late 1960s, ran now MP Joyce Murray's New Westminster-Coquitlam campaign during the 2006 election. If he wins the nomination, Lenoski will be the last major party candidate into the by-election race. The other candidates are Conservative Diana Dilworth, NDPer Fin Donnelly, and Green Rebecca Helps.

Simply the best

In a Maclean's-Institute for Market Studies survey of the best and worst run cities in Canada, Burnaby was number one.

The survey rated the cities on a variety of factors - governance and finance, taxation, safety and protection, transportation, environmental health, economic development and recreation and culutre. Burnaby also ranked number one in recreation and culture.

Remember him?

Paul Forseth, the former Reform-Canadian Alliance-Conservative MP, who lost just as the Conservatives came to government in 2006, is again being rumoured as a potential Tory candidate in Burnaby-New Westminster.

Forseth had been rumoured as a potential candidate in Burnaby-New Westminster during the potential coalition in November-December 2008 but quickly played his hand for New Westminstet-Coquitlam after 2008 New Westminster-Coquitlam Conservative Yonah Martin was named to the Senate in mid-December.

Last month the Conservatives in New Westminster-Coquitlam opened their nomination for later this month. Forseth jetted off on a European holiday and was unable to file the paperwork necessary to run for the by-election nomination. The retired former MP made a lot of noise but carefully managed to not blame anyone for the inconvenient meeting date.

Prior to the current redistribution, Forseth represented a sizable part of Burnaby-New Westminster. There is no word yet on potential Liberal candidates to challenge MP Peter Julian.