Candidates will be gearing up for a fall election and Tri-City residents can expect to hear from them in the coming days.
While local voters will recognize many of the office seekers running in the Oct. 24 election, others may be relative newcomers to the provincial scene.
Nomination meetings, likely held virtually, will be taking place over the coming days for Green Party candidates, according to a local spokesman. Candidates have to be selected by Oct. 2, according to Elections BC, after which a candidate list will be posted.
As well, the Tri-City News has reached out to the BC Conservative Party and the BC Liberal Party for their list of local candidates.
However, a number of well-known politicians have already declared they will be running to represent local voters.
In Port Moody-Coquitlam, the NDP’s Rick Glumac is seeking a second term as MLA. A former PoMo councillor, Glumac was also Parliamentary Secretary for Technology and was recently elected Canadian vice-president of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region.
Meanwhile, the BC Liberals are fielding James Robertson. Robertson is a leadership coach and management consultant, who saw combat in Afghanistan while commanding elements of Canada’s elite Special Forces unit.
In Coquitlam-Maillardville, MLA Selina Robinson has said she will run again. She was the province’s minister of municipal affairs and housing and before being sent to Victoria served as a Coquitlam city councillor.
In Port Coquitlam, MLA Mike Farnworth, who has been the minister of public safety and solicitor general, has said he will be running again. The local politician is a veteran of several provincial campaigns dating back to 1991.
In Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, MLA Joan Isaacs has confirmed she will be running re-election with the BC Liberal Party. Isaacs was elected MLA for Coquitlam-Burke Mountain in 2017 and currently is the Official Opposition Critic for Children and Family Development .
Challenging Issacs is Fin Donnelly, who is running to represent the riding as an NDP MLA after 10 years as a federal MP, during which time he was fisheries critic. Donnelly was previously a Coquitlam councillor.
More information on the Green Party’s nominations and the BC Conservative Party’s nominations will be posted on their websites.
CANDIDATE NOMINATIONS
Prospective candidates can submit completed nomination packages to Elections BC’s head office in Victoria until 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Completed packages can be submitted in person or electronically. Beginning at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24, completed nomination packages must be submitted to the district electoral officer for the district the candidate intends to run in.
Candidate nominations close at 1 p.m. (Pacific time) on Friday, Oct. 2. The final list of candidates will be posted online at elections.bc.ca as soon as possible after nominations close.
