It's exactly 3 months to the municipal elections. Does anyone care?

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We're exactly three months out from this year's municipal elections in B.C. (Oct. 20. Mark it in your calendar!), but we're seeing a flurry of campaign activity this week that would make you think we're right in the middle of the campaign season.

The Surrey mayoral race is firming up.

Kennedy Stewart is gaining the support of the Vancouver and District Labour Council. Local councils are either moving ahead on final public hearings (in Vancouver)or deferring them until after the election (District of North Vancouver).

There's a reason for all this hustle: everything is going to slow down, very quickly.

City councils will begin their breaks over the next two weeks, not returning until Labour Day. The next month is traditionally considered the hardest time to penetrate the news bubble. Automatic email replies that say, "I am away from my desk until August 25" proliferate like bunny rabbits.

So, if a politician wants attention for their announcement (see: the Labour Council) or wants to get the media out of their hair (see: Coleman), it's best to get their ducks in order at the end of this month.

If September is the beginning of the official campaigns, August is for behind-the-scenes planning and those final vacations.

You may be wondering, "if nothing is going to happen, why start a newsletter about Metro Vancouver politics now?"

Good question, hypothetical reader! With so many municipalities to cover and so many interesting races, there's plenty of issues to warrant a weekly newsletter devoted to all things local and political in Metro Vancouver.

And when races really heat up after Labour Day? Buckle up.

The headlines

In other news, guess who isn't running? Former housing minister Rich Coleman was considering a run for mayor of Surrey and claimed he had "overwhelming support," but he nixed those speculations this week. Despite that support, Coleman says he wants to focus on provincial politics and spending more time with family.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, West Vancouver is the latest municipality in the region to ban all cannabis shops. But pot businesses can also apply to set up shop, if they go to a rezoning hearing. Confused? The city describes it as "prohibition light."

File this in the folder: someone else's problem. The District of North Vancouver has shelved making a decision on a contentious, major development until after the election on Oct. 20.

The idea is to transform a site near the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge into a mix of 18 buildings, which would house 1,000 residential units and 4,500 jobs. But opponents are concerned it will bring a lot of traffic to an already congested area, in addition to tearing down trees.

The mayor said he didn't want to move forward, so it wouldn't be an election issue, but it's probably going to still be an election issuebecause punting a decision doesn't make it go away.

Better know a mayor's race

This week, the proverbial wheel lands on White Rock, where two people are looking to replace the retiring mayor, Wayne Baldwin: three-term councillor (and BC Ferries officer), Grant Meyer, faces off against former BCGEU president Darryl Walker.

Housing affordability colours every race in this election in different ways, but, in most municipalities, there's a dynamic playing out: a status quo candidate says that density and new developments in highly-trafficked areas is working out well, and an outsider who says the city doesn't listen, people are being priced out, and while they're not against all towers, none of the major ones the city has pursued are any good.

See Burnaby. See the District of North Vancouver. And see, among others, White Rock.

Percolator (ie. something big on the social medias)

Municipal politics isn't supposed to be glamorous, so says Vancouver city councillor George Affleck. He says the focus should be on people who want to make a difference in their own towns.

One person did respond: "If a mayor of a progressive, resourced city can't weigh in on citizen issues of broader concern, we're all sunk. A "stick to your knitting" approach is fundamentally conservative and not the way forward. Bonus points: Prov, Fed & UN issues -are- municipal issues."

But Affleck's tweet does raise the question, how much of a role do you think issues like the Trans Mountain pipeline will have in this election. It was definitely a hot topic last time around, but now, everyone seems to be convinced that housing affordability will be THE ONLY REAL ISSUE that matters.

Tell us what you think the big (non-housing) issue will be this election! Or do you agree, it's only housing? Drop us a line at metromatters@cbc.ca.

ICYMI

In Burnaby, Derek Corrigan continues to move very quickly to ensure more affordable housing is approved before the election, and continues to say it has nothing to do with the upcoming election. Read Kelvin Gawley's report on the city's intention tostart using the new power to zone for rental only.

Are there any other mayors who might announce they aren't running again?The most likely candidate is West Vancouver's Michael Smith, but he told the Vancouver Sun's Jennifer Saltman he's "deliberately waiting" until September to make a formal announcement.

Mike Howell at the Courier has a wrap-up of Kennedy Stewart's mayoral endorsement from the Vancouver and District Labour Council. How much it will matter to voters on election day is questionable, but it guarantees some organizational support (in labour, if not in donations) and a talking point the Burnaby MP can use as he attempts to situate himself as the dominant choice for progressive voters.

Rankings!

Justin likes to rank things, so each week we'll try and have some sort of list. For the first edition of this newsletter, we'll keep it simple: the 10 mayoral races to watch

1. Vancouver: What? Are you surprised? There are still seven candidates in the race, but it will be interesting to see whether any drop out before Labour Day and what Stewart's VDLC nod means to the public.

2. Surrey: In Vancouver, most of the dominos fell over the course of five months. In Surrey, two of the biggest fell on the same day: Rich Coleman opting against taking on Tom Gill and former mayor Doug McCallum opting-in firms up the dynamics considerably, but whether Surrey First councillor Bruce Hayne runs for mayor is still an open question.

3. Burnaby: People who enjoy political drama are DEEPLY into the unanswerable question of whether Mike Hurley can unseat Derek Corrigan, with speculation that organized labour's endorsement + discontent about demovictions = a chance for Hurley to be competitive. The first poll to come out of here will be verrrrrry interesting.

4. Delta: With longtime mayor Lois Jackson stepping down, a three-way race has emerged to replace her. Councillor and former provincial NDP candidate Sylvia Bishop, former police chief Jim Cessford and former chief administrative officer George Harvie are facing off in a race that is hard to handicap at the outset.

5. City of North Vancouver: Populist (and divisive) businessman Kerry Morris lost by less than 1,000 votes to Darrell Mussatto last election, but, with Mussatto out of the race, he is trying again. The establishment candidate will be Linda Buchanan, the long-term councillor and "heir to Mussatto's faction", to quote North Shore News columnist Paul Sullivan. Former two-term councillor Guy Heywood has also recently entered the mix.

6. District of North Vancouver: It's the battle of the councillors! Current member Roger Bassam will face off against former councillor (and federal Conservative candidate) Mike Little and Ash Amlani, a 32-year-old heading the new Building Bridges party. See our profile from last week.

7. Langley Township: Complaining in the media about odour from cannabis production facilities, voting against TransLink's $7 billion infrastructure plan because of the gas tax increase Jack Froese is working hard to show voters he's attentive to their concerns, in a re-election bid where he's facing a current councillor, (Kim Richter), and possibly the highest profile developer in the municipality, (Eric Woodward)

8. Maple Ridge: Former mayor Ernie Daykin is in the race, trying to replace retiring Mayor Nicole Read, who defeated him in 2014. Mike Morden, who finished second to Read, is still mulling a campaign, reports the Maple Ridge News, as is councillor Craig Spears. But will any of them take a bold stance on the conflicts with the homeless population that have plagued the city's political culture the last few years?

9. White Rock: Look, I just described it above.

10. Coquitlam: Richard Stewart is sending out some hints that he will run again, but, until he does, there are big question marks surrounding Metro Vancouver's fifth biggest city.

That's it for us this week! Check out the latest headlines at cbc.ca/bc and follow our municipal affairs reporter, Justin McElroy, on Twitter. If you have any questions about the municipal election, drop Justin and Tamara a line at metromatters@cbc.ca.

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