Friday, September 9, 2022

From Vision Plan to Election Guidebook and Campaign Academy: Lee Brain outlines his next project

Like the days of a late night cable TV informercial, the You Tube advertorial above for current Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain's next project comes at you like a freight train rushing to the DP World Container Terminal at Fairview.

A fast paced little video opus that explores how Mr. Brain views leadership and politics and the promise of his guidance for those looking to take those ambitions on.

A project that charts the course ahead for his next reincarnation on the local scene, one with an apparent global ambition.

With the video presentation, Mr. Brain, who steps away from local politics in November, has launched the next phase of his career, that of a self published author. 

The Mayor is putting to use the presentation skills he honed as part of his Hays 2.0 vision plan of 2015 and the 2030 Vision program delivered in December of 2019

The third element of his community building themes, by way of a new book that will chart the road forward for would be politicians, the finishing school something that Mr. Brain calls an International Election Campaign Academy!

The official launch of the project came through the Mayor's Social Media page on Thursday afternoon, the Mayor speaking to his passion for changing the world and how he wants to assist would be leaders in channelling their potential.

As part of his short synopsis of his work, Mr. Brain offers up a shout out to the local Community Futures office for their business advice and guidance as he worked into the night and through his weekends to complete the manuscript.


A link to his personal website provides more background to the project, recounting his past experiences both as mayor and from his relationships through the mayoralty. 

With the Mayor touching on many of themes made for his recent State of the City presentation and his accounts of his work over his eight years in office to "Save the City". 

The introduction to the book mind you is heavy on how the Mayor views his accomplishments  and tends to skip over on the many challenges that sill face the community after the Mayor's eight year run.  

The preview to the book and election guidance program, one which leaves out some of the unfinished business from the various vision documents of that period. Perhaps those elements make up some of the lesson plans up for review.

Since the book is about the Art of Campaigning, he recounts his political success that led to his taking office as Mayor in 2014. 

Though in the interest of accuracy, it should be noted that of his two terms; only one actually came by way of an election plan, with the Mayor having been acclaimed to office for his second term owing to a lack of competitors.


The 206 page e-book is called the Art of Campaigning and its launch arrives just as the Municipal election period heats up across British Columbia. 

A timely release date that will give Mayor Brain something to share next week with the delegates to the annual UBCM gathering in Whistler.



Whether you are an aspiring small town political candidate or an advocate for global change you can pick up your copy on-line through the Mayor's website here.

And Mr. Brain stands by to be the guiding hand for any campaign requiring some guidance, offering up 'a plan in a pinch consultancy' of sorts for those looking for a kick start to their political career.



As we move forward into the local campaign, it will be worth watching to see how many of the candidates for Prince Rupert Council, or SD52 trustee positions may cite passages from the mayor's work as part of their political blue print on the way to October 15th.

Even in these early days of the 2022 election period,  a few of those that have declared their campaigns have indicated that they plan to run on the record of the last eight years, or to follow up on the work of the Mayor to complete his vision planing.  

So it seems likely that a few copies of The Art of Campaigning may already be in at the order desk.

We would be remiss, if we did not point out, that like one of those curious episodes of the Simpsons that seem to predict the future, we as things turned out, correctly speculated on the Mayor's next steps along his career trajectory back during the State of the City Presentation of June



While it would appear that Muskeg Press won't be the publisher of choice for this project, there may be some form of book signing tour ahead yet.

You can follow the process of the Prince Rupert electoral planning through our archive page here.


4 comments:

  1. I wonder if there will be sections on Keeping Public Council Meetings as Short as Possible or When It's Best Not to Blow Your Own Horn Too Much?

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  2. I hope your book points out the difference between campaigning and governance.

    In 2014, you campaigned on open and transparent government by means of;
    - Submitting a weekly column via print media or electronic delivery.
    - Host a monthly Town Hall meeting
    - Send out a monthly e-mail or social media newsletter

    Once the campaign was over though, the above never happened. You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.

    You won the 2014 election running as a fourth generation local and 53% of eligible voters did not cast a vote. You shouldn't lose.

    https://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/election-results-v3/index.php?localgovernmentid=106&select-year=2014&select-view-by=municipality

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  3. The book will not contain a chapter or two on fiscal responsibility. Prince Rupert might be in better shape had he practiced sensible responsibilities with the city books.

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  4. I wonder if the mayor will be providing consulting services while he is still collecting his full-time salary from the city?

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