Surrey South byelection set for Sept. 10
The B.C. government has called a byelection for the Surrey South seat left vacant this spring when former Liberal MLA Stephanie Cadieux was appointed Canada's chief accessibility officer.
Voters will head to the polls on Saturday, Sept. 10.
Longtime Surrey RCMP spokesperson Elenore Sturko is running for the Liberals. She announced her candidacy in early May, shortly after the seat opened up.
She took an unpaid leave of absence from the Mounties to focus on her campaign.
“We’ve been at the doors, I’ve heard from the people in Surrey South,” said Sturko in an interview with CTV News Saturday.
“Their top concerns really are health care, number one I'd say is affordability, and of course crime,” Sturko said.
Sturko also thinks her 13-year-career as a police officer has given her a unique perspective help tackle issues like mental health, drug addiction and public safety.
"When it comes to things like our health-care system, the opioid crisis and even crime issues, we're talking about the safety of the community and people's lives are at stake,” she said.
Community organizer Pauline Greaves will contest the seat for the governing BC NDP.
Greaves has been a resident of South Surrey for nearly three decades and teaches business at Langara College.
She says she’s running to help finish what the B.C. NDP has started.
"My interest is to fight for the projects that have been put on the table,” Greaves said during a media availability Saturday.
Those projects would be the new hospital in Cloverdale and a new toll-free George Massey Tunnel.
The NDP have voiced concerns that if the Liberals win the seat, they would scrap both of those projects.
“They took away the hospital, they sold the land that was supposed to be for the second hospital in Surrey,” said Greaves.
“The Massey Tunnel, they put tolls on, that severely impact on the livelihood of people,” she added.
"People should not have to leave their homes to get care, we should not be sitting in traffic for two hours to get into Vancouver,”
Sturko says the Liberals won’t scrap the hospital, but would like to see some modifications to the current plan.
"Our concern is the 168 beds, lack of a maternity ward, no intensive care -- these are things that the community needs now,” Sturko said.
After the byelection was called Saturday, the BC Green Party announced its candidate: Simon Fraser University student Simran Sarai.
She told CTV News she plans to tackle issues like climate change, affordability and housing.
"It's just astounding that these prices have gone up and that housing has just stayed so unaffordable for so long,” Sarai said.
“My friends and I are trying to plan for the future, and we don't know if we'll be able to stay in B.C. let alone the lower Mainland,”\
Elections BC says candidate nominations close at 1 p.m. on Aug. 20.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.