Mayor Derek Corrigan
I have been a Burnaby resident since 1977 and have had the pleasure of serving the citizens of Burnaby since I was first elected to Burnaby City Council as a councillor in 1987. I was elected Mayor in 2002, then re-elected in 2005 and 2008. This year marks my twenty-fourth consecutive year as a member of Burnaby Council, where I strive to bring the history and heritage of my two decades of public service to every important decision.
My wife, Kathy, and I have raised four children in our community. All attended Nelson Elementary and Burnaby South High School. With my children, I’ve enjoyed years of involvement in local sports, including as a coach for South Burnaby Metro Club and Burnaby Minor Lacrosse Club and a team parent for the Burnaby Minor Hockey Association. Kathy and I both were involved in the West Burnaby Parent Participation Playschool and Nelson School and Kathy chaired the Parent Advisory Council and coached ringette. With our children now grown, Kathy was recently elected as the provincial MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake.
I was born in Vancouver and attended Sir Charles Tupper High School. After winning a scholarship to UBC, I was granted early admission to law school after three years of undergraduate study in political science and philosophy. I was called to the B.C. Bar in 1978.
During my lengthy political career, I have served on many key committees at the local, regional and national levels. I also served as the chair of B.C. Transit from 1994-97, assuming responsibility for all transit systems in British Columbia. I am proud that during my tenure, B.C. Transit received both the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Outstanding Public Transportation System of the Year Award (1996) and the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) Transit System of the Year award (1995). I currently sit on the Mayor's Council on Regional Transportation.
I have also served for four years as an elected director of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and I currently serve as a Trustee of the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia. On an international level, I have been an active supporter of the Mayors for Peace movement and have served as the Canadian secretary for the 3,793 member cities. I was honoured to receive a special recognition award for my participation in the United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Conference.
At the City of Burnaby, I chair Burnaby’s Social Sustainability Strategy Steering Committee and I am ex-officio member of all Council Committees. As a long-time Director of Metro Vancouver, I currently serve on the following committees:
- Chair, Regional Planning Committee
- Member, Waste Management Committee
- Member, Mayors Committee
- Vice-chair, Intergovernmental Committee
- Member, Port Cities Committee
- Member, Policing Issues Committee
Metro Vancouver has also appointed me as: a representative to the International Centre for Sustainable Cities; an Alternate Representative to the Western Transportation Advisory Council (WESTAC); and a director of the Municipal Finance Authority.
I was very honoured this year to be the recipient of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities 2011 FCM Green Champion Award - Individual. It spoke to the many years of environmental leadership our city has shown, led by Burnaby City Council and City of Burnaby staff and supported by the people of Burnaby and hundreds of citizen volunteers.
I am very privileged to serve as the Honourary Chair for Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion and the Honourary Chair for the Burnaby Empty Bowls Campaign in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011. I am a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and an Honourary Member of the Burnaby Edmonds Lions Club.
I have also been recognized as a recipient of the Canada 125 medal for Community Service and received special recognition awards from the Shri Guru Ravidass Temple and the Arul Migu Thurkaderi Hindu Society B.C., for community service.
Now serving my third term as Mayor, I am proud to reflect on all our many achievements in the City of Burnaby. Burnaby is a vibrant city that embraces diversity and is recognized as an international leader in many of our business, environment and financial programs and practices. We are reaching out to the region and the world to ensure that we can be successful in today’s global markets and the world is looking to us for business and lifestyle leadership. I look forward to continuing to work with Council and all Burnaby Citizens to keep Burnaby the best place in the world to live, work, learn and play.
