As nomination meetings roll out this spring, one provincial party has its card of Tri-City candidates nearly full.
Last month, the BC Conservatives named Ndellie Massey as a contender in the new constituency of New Westminster–Coquitlam, as well as Hamed Najafi in Coquitlam–Maillardville.
The pair join fellow party candidates Kerry Van Aswegen, who was nominated by the BC Conservatives in Port Moody–Burquitlam in January, and Stephen Frolek who got the members’ nod in Coquitlam–Burke Mountain last December.
According to the party website, Massey is a small business owner who has managed government projects in South Africa, consulted for Revenu Quebec and led BC Hydro initiatives.
Najafi is vying for the seat currently held by Independent MLA Selina Robinson, who is not seeking re-election this fall. A long-time Coquitlam resident, Najafi has a background in electronics engineering, technical sales and customer service.
Meanwhile, the BC Green Party has yet to disclose its team of candidates for the Tri-Cities while the BC United under Kevin Falcon has one offering so far: Keenan Adams, a locomotive engineer and a PoCo resident since 2010.
As for the NDP incumbent MLAs, Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam); Rick Glumac (Port Moody–Burquitlam); and Fin Donnelly (Coquitlam–Burke Mountain) are expected to run though they have yet to confirm.
2023 money raised
On Monday, April 8, Elections BC released its 2023 annual financial reports for provincial parties and local elector organizations, showing the BC NDP raised $4.5 million last year versus $2.9 million for the BC United and $443,499 for the BC Conservative Party.
The documents also outline the local contributors who gave to ParentsVoice BC for its political activities in School District 43 last year:
- Maryann Walker = $1,324
- Don Nightingale = $1,250
- Jewlie Milligan = $100
- Lyndia Snyder = $100
- Martha Thiessen = $100
- Richard Wilgosh = $100
- Tera Procee = $100
Want to be an MLA?
To run in the provincial election, you must:
- be 18 years or older
- be a Canadian citizen
- have been a B.C. resident for the past six months
- not have been disqualified by the Election Act or another law
And you don’t have to live in the constituency you are running in; however, you can only run in one electoral district at a time.
The 43rd provincial election is on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, and it will be the first general election to take place under the updated Election Act, allowing new technology to be used to make voting faster and easier. The changes include using electronic tabulators to count paper ballots, as well as laptops to look up voters and cross them off the voters list.
To find out what electoral district you reside in, you can type your address in the Elections BC finder.
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