Candidate questions rival holding ‘North Delta’ campaign event in Surrey
Published 5:02 pm Monday, June 8, 2026
A former Delta councillor and political rival is questioning Mayor George Harvie’s decision to hold his slate’s North Delta campaign event in Surrey.
Achieving for Delta welcomed hundreds of supporters to the Taj Park Convention Centre on 132 Street near 86 Avenue Sunday evening (June 7) for a “North Delta-focused” campaign event where the party revealed its final three candidates and Harvie delivered a speech outlining his priorities for the next four years.
Almost two hours before the speeches at Sunday night’s event began, One Delta councillor candidate Sylvia Bishop issued a press release saying she was disappointed to learn that Harvie had chosen to relaunch his re-election campaign outside of Delta.
“I’ve lived in Delta my whole life. I taught in Delta classrooms for more than two decades. I served at the Delta council table. Throughout all of those experiences, I’ve always believed that if you want to serve this community, you show up for it in every way you can,” Bishop said in One Delta’s release.
“So when I heard that George Harvie chose to relaunch his campaign in Surrey, I have to admit it made me question what message that sends to the community he was elected to represent.”
Bishop said the decision sends the wrong message at a time when local businesses and community organizations need support.
“I understand wanting a full room, I really do. But Delta has wonderful venues. Delta has hardworking local business owners who would have welcomed that event, that revenue, and that vote of confidence from their own mayor.”
Harvie, speaking with the Reporter at Sunday night’s event, explained the event was hosted in Surrey because there are no venues in North Delta that could accommodate the “very large crowd” organizers expected would come out.
“It’s the trouble that we have in North Delta: there’s no big banquet hall. We’ve been trying to do it over the years through construction, but of course with the downturn in the economy, it hasn’t happened yet,” he said.
“But I hope one day that we do have a very large banquet facility that’s available to hold crowds like this [of] over 500. I was a little worried about the travel back here into the middle of Surrey pretty well, but you can see tonight people wanted to hear us, they wanted to see us and they came out, so I’m very happy.”
Asked what message holding the event in Surrey sends to Delta voters, Harvie called Bishop’s comments “ridiculous” and “just pure politics.”
“I mean, people understand there was nowhere to go in North Delta, and we owe it to the North Delta people to have a campaign where we have one [event] in South Delta and one in North Delta. And overall, we’re almost a thousand people — combining both events together — and so I’m very happy about that,” he said.
“But to criticize it is part of politics. We’re working hard to get our message out to the public, working hard to ensure that people can come here, can ask us questions, come meet us. But most importantly, I want to show people the fantastic council team we have.”
Bishop noted that “every major campaign in this election made the choice to stay local except one,” adding leadership is often reflected in small decisions.
“After 24 years in a classroom, I learned that how someone behaves when they think nobody is paying attention tells you a lot about their priorities,” she said in Sunday’s press release. “Delta deserves leadership that chooses Delta every time.”
Voting day for this year’s municipal election is Saturday, Oct. 17.
For the latest election coverage, visit northdeltareporter.com/category/election.