The chair of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce board will take a shot at a political job.
Rick Pasin is the first person to publicly declare he'll seek the nomination for the BC Liberals in Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, a provincial stronghold for the party previously held by Doug Horne.
Pasin, who is currently on leave as chair to campaign for the MLA seat, said he started door-knocking last week and met many residents new to B.C.
And because many of them did not understand the democratic process, Pasin said he and his team plan to host an information session for newcomers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the City Centre branch of the Coquitlam Public Library (1169 Pinetree Way).
Jillian Stead, communications officer with the BC Liberals, said the party has heard from a few candidates wanting to run in the by-election. A nomination meeting is expected to be scheduled for early December.
As for the NDP, riding president Matt Djonlic also said the party is trying to organize a nomination date and has a couple of contenders.
So far, the only confirmed candidate is Joe Keithley, the frontman for the punk rock band DOA who was acclaimed by the BC Green Party in September.
In August, Horne stepped down as MLA to run as a Conservative in the federal election but came in second to the Liberals' Ron McKinnon on Oct. 19 (Horne told The Tri-City News on Monday he would not be seeking nomination to return).
Premier Christy Clark has until early January to call a by-election for the two ridings vacated by MLAs who resigned to run federally (NDP MLA Jenny Kwan left her Vancouver-Mount Pleasant post).
jwarren@tricitynews.com
