During the night he secured his final election victory in 2022, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie needed to clarify a point.
“It appears to be a seventh consecutive term for Mayor Malcolm Brodie, but with an 11,000-vote margin, you’re not calling it just yet, are you?” Karin Larsen from CBC News inquired at Brodie’s election celebration.
“If we want to be precise, it’s actually my eighth term,” he replied, referencing his mayoral byelection triumph in 2001, which preceded his win in the 2002 municipal election.
He was the same Brodie that the public has known for 25 years: meticulous, perhaps overly particular, and a significant political success.
Brodie achieved a historic eighth term as Richmond’s mayor with over 67 percent of the votes in 2022. He will not be running for re-election this year. (Karin Larsen/CBC)
No major city mayor in Metro Vancouver has ever held office longer than Brodie.
He consistently garnered over 60 percent of the votes, rarely faced political challenges, and served as an Independent during a time of rising partisanship.
As Brodie steps back from re-election and approaches the end of his term, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on the factors contributing to his political achievements.
After 25 years as Richmond’s mayor, Malcolm Brodie is stepping down. Jason D’Souza and Justin McElroy look back at Brodie’s long run at city hall and break down the race to replace him.
‘Work within your box’
Two of the most significant infrastructure projects during Brodie’s tenure as mayor were initiated in his first term following the decision to allow Vancouver to host the 2010 Winter Olympics: the Canada Line and the Richmond Olympic Oval.
This enabled Brodie to adhere to the “grand bargain” made by Metro Vancouver municipalities—a concept introduced by former Vancouver councillor Gordon Price, which revolves around developing and increasing density near new rapid transit stations while maintaining the majority of the city in its current state.
“All redevelopment would then focus on access to transit, and a rapid transit line was crucial to the entire strategy,” Brodie mentioned during an exit interview with CBC News, reminiscing about the discussions he participated in as a councillor in the late 1990s before ascending to the mayoral role.
“The most significant factor for us was the Canada Line and the transit-oriented density.”
A SkyTrain is departing from Richmond’s Capstan Station heading north towards Vancouver. The Canada Line was one of the most significant projects in Richmond during Brodie’s extensive time in office. (Ben Nelms/CBC News)
Brodie is against the province’s new regulations on density and housing starts imposed on municipalities; however, unlike mayors in Vancouver or Surrey, he has not treated it as a political matter nor has he initiated legal action against various government levels when disagreements arose.
“We have our disagreements on numerous issues with the province and the federal government as well. But you have to be pragmatic and work with what you have,” he stated.
“Let’s operate within your constraints and see where it leads us.”
‘I’m not insisting that’s the way it’s going to be’
This approach also influenced how Brodie conducted council meetings.
“My method has been that ultimately, I possess one vote, while there are eight [councillors],” he explained.
“Therefore, we need to discuss where we aim to go and how we will achieve this, rather than me entering the room with a set agenda. Obviously, I have my perspectives, but I’m not claiming that’s how it must be.”
Brodie emphasizes that, in the end, he represents only one vote in council — there are eight other councillors who contribute to decision-making. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
As a result, Brodie occasionally found himself on the losing side of votes, sometimes on significant matters like Chinese language signage, reducing home sizes on ALR land, or the initial rejection of a bike lane on Steveston Highway, which was later reversed.
However, unlike mayors in other municipalities, these moments never escalated into a tense standoff between the mayor and council, and there was never a strong coalition to significantly challenge Brodie in future elections.
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“Malcolm is a highly skilled mayor, having served for decades, and he certainly knows how to lead a meeting,” remarked Carol Day, a two-term councillor who campaigned for eight years on a platform of challenging the existing order.
“Mayor Brodie is much more inclined towards ‘This is how we have always conducted ourselves’; he prefers to maintain order … we may not have always seen eye to eye, but we have never shown disrespect.”
Brodie has chosen to stay out of the contentious race to succeed him and believes that his successor will encounter unavoidable challenges.
“The risk is that people will make numerous promises. I just know that many of those promises cannot be fulfilled,” he remarked.
This could be interpreted as either a practical viewpoint or arrogance. Alternatively, it might be seen as a final expression of Brodie’s governing philosophy over the past 25 years.
