With Members of Parliament set to debate the budget in the House of Commons this week, election sabre rattling has been loud in Ottawa.
And that means Tri-City residents, like voters across the country, could be going to the polls sooner than expected.
Local riding associations are already gearing up for a potential election and many of the parties have already selected candidates to run in the area.
In New Westminster-Coquitlam, the constituency currently held by the NDP's Fin Donnelly, both the Liberals and the Tories have chosen candidates in what is gearing up to be a repeat of the 2009 byelection. Port Moody Coun. Diana Dilworth will run again under the Conservative banner while Liberal Ken Beck Lee will also be working to unseat Donnelly, who took over from former NDP MP Dawn Black.
In Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam, it remains unclear who will challenge current Conservative MP James Moore, who is also minister of Canadian heritage and official languages. The Liberals have yet to select a candidate and the NDP and Green Party did not return calls by The Tri-City News by deadline.
It is expected that federal parties without a declared candidate will likely select their representatives in the coming weeks should the House of Commons fail to pass the tabled budget.
