Benjamin Perry was elected to Coquitlam City Council on October 17, 2026. The City of Coquitlam's official count gives him 9,604 votes, eighth of the 20 council candidates and the last of the eight seats, and the City's Chief Election Officer declared him elected on October 21, 2026. Rosalinda Thorleifson, seventh, had 9,836 votes, and Jane Thomsing, ninth, 9,303, 301 fewer than Perry, by the City's results per tabulator. The City's results print no elector organization for any candidate, and VoteMate lists him as an independent. The Dispatch reported that the newcomers to council were Matthew Sebastiani, Harvey Su, Thorleifson and Perry, and Freshet News reported that the four replaced Craig Hodge, Trish Mandewo, Brent Asmundson and Dennis Marsden.
Freshet News reported on August 21, 2026 that he was a candidate in the city's last election, works in the health-care sector, and told the paper he was campaigning to put residents first in civic policies. The paper reported that he has served on the City's universal accessibility committee and been part of Force of Nature Alliance, the Tri-Cities Pride Society and Tri-Cities Food Not Bombs, and that he is a member of the Health Sciences Association of BC's policy and governance committee. The City's page for its Accessibility and Inclusion Advisory Committee, read on October 30, 2026, lists the committee's current members and does not name him. Freshet News's candidate profile prints his occupation as speech-language pathologist and his years in Coquitlam as 40. By his own account, on VoteMate, he grew up in Coquitlam, has worked with Force of Nature Alliance since 2015, helped found Food Not Bombs Tri-Cities and has been treasurer of the Tri-Cities Pride Society; voche.me has not checked these with those groups.
The Dispatch reported in September 2026 that he was running to protect parks, trees and natural areas, that he had criticized council for failing to adopt the Zero Carbon Step Code, and that he pledged to take no campaign donations from executives or owners of property development companies. The Dispatch quoted his campaign announcement: "What I hear consistently is that residents want growth and change to work for them." His campaign site says he is endorsed by the New Westminster District Labour Council and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 386.
On February 11, 2026 the Dispatch reported that council had voted, in a split vote, against adopting the Zero Carbon Step Code ahead of the Province's schedule, on a motion by Councillor Dennis Marsden. The next day it printed a letter from Perry, described as an environmentalist and former council candidate, in which he wrote that council had missed a chance to accelerate the most practical climate measure available to the city, that City staff had said cost impacts would be minimal, and that Councillors Teri Towner, Craig Hodge, Robert Mazzarolo and Matt Djonlic had voted against the amendment to remove the accelerated timeline. His campaign site carries a petition asking council to adopt the highest level, EL-4, for all new buildings and to remove an 18-month delay for condominium buildings.
In Freshet News's candidate profile of September 30, 2026 he named liveable and affordable housing as his top issue and said that when a redevelopment is proposed, council must ask what housing is lost as well as what is added. He said Coquitlam is safe for most residents but not for targets of hate groups, women and children facing domestic violence, medically compromised people in extreme heat or people facing homelessness, and proposed better lighting on walking paths and safe housing for vulnerable residents. He named a rental replacement policy and a stronger tenant relocation policy as two ways to improve affordability, said the city cannot afford to lose more industrial land, and said he looks forward to the development of the City Centre entertainment district in the official community plan. He did not answer the Dispatch's council questionnaire of October 13, 2026.
His platform's Growth that Works for Residents page says towers belong around SkyTrain stations while other neighbourhoods add housing gradually, that transportation planning must come before development, and that he will advocate for accountability and cost control from Metro Vancouver. Freshet News and the Dispatch reported that the new council is sworn in on November 9, 2026.
