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
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
OPINION No reunion between Prince Harry and the King signifies a setback for royal unity
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
NEW For their protection, immigrants critical of China and India call for speedy passage of Canada's foreign interference legislation
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Spanish prosecutors recommend 2nd investigation into Shakira's taxes be thrown out
Spanish state prosecutors recommended Wednesday that an investigating judge shelve a probe into another alleged case of tax fraud by pop star Shakira.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.