Doug Horne, the current BC Liberal MLA for Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, announced on Friday that he has been nominated to run as a Conservative Party candidate in this fall's federal election.
The 48-year-old Horne, who was first elected to the B.C. legislature in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013, told The Tri-City News last week that he recently informed Premier Christy Clark of his decision to take leave so he could run federally.
He also acknowledged that should he be successful this fall, he would prompt a costly byelection in his provincial riding. However, he said he wants Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam to "continue to have good, strong representation in Ottawa."
Asked who might fill his shoes, he said: "There's a lot of great people locally that would do a great job. One of the things that I"ve been working on very, very hard at is the schools on Burke Mountain. We have a good plan now by the levels of government working together so one of the most important things is to make sure we get someone in place that will continue to work forward with that plan like we had hoped."
Horne also said he had endorsements from Coquitlam city councillors Dennis Marsden, Terry O'Neill and Mae Reid.
The federal electoin is scheduled to take place on October 19.
More to come...
