Abbotsford

Abbotsford-Mission byelection campaigns kick off after Conservative MLA steps down

5 candidates, including B.C. Conservative leader, will compete for the seat

Five candidates are now campaigning for an open seat in the B.C. Legislature in a byelection for the Abbotsford-Mission riding.

The byelection was called after MLA Reann Gasper, a B.C. Conservative, stepped down to allow her party's new leader, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, to seek the seat in the legislature.

Findlay stood by her leadership Saturday, in the wake of nine MLAs quitting the Conservative caucus to sit as Independents or create a new political party.

"I just won a very hotly contested leadership race ... and there were divisions that get caused by those kinds of races," she said. "I know that. And a number of those people [who] have left simply didn't accept the vote of the membership."

Findlay, a lawyer and former MP who was elected leader of the B.C. Conservatives in May, said Gasper offered her the chance to run because she was committed to the party.

"That's as simple as it gets.... She wanted to give me that opportunity and I accepted," Findlay said.

She said she wants to focus on Mission and Abbotsford, particularly around health care. She noted emergency room closures have been a continuing problem at Mission Memorial Hospital.

B.C. Conservative MLA for Abbotsford-Mission to step down, paving way for new leader to seek election

2 more B.C. Conservative MLAs quit caucus to sit as Independents

Pam Alexis, the NDP candidate and former MLA for the riding, also flagged health care as her biggest campaign priority.

"We are part of Fraser East and Fraser Health, and Fraser East has a harder time in recruiting staff and professionals in the health sector," Alexis said Saturday.

She said she isn't thinking about the competition against the Conservative leader but prefers to focus on the riding.

Green Party candidate Stephen Fowler addressed affordability, health care and transit as his priorities.

Fowler, who said he has run federally and provincially before, added that he recognizes the Greens have a lower likelihood to take the seat, but said the party has a vision for a population that needs change.

"Climate is connected to everything that we talk about when we talk about the political issues," he said.

Concerns grow as ER in Mission faces its longest stretch of overnight closures yet

New political party CentreBC will run Lakhwinder Jhaj as its candidate. The party says it focuses on being a moderate, pragmatic option for voters.

Libertarian Jeff Monds is also running for the seat. He recently ran in the federal North Vancouver-Capilano byelection in August.

CBC News has reached out to CentreBC and the Libertarian Party of Canada.

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Sept. 26 is the last day to vote in the byelection, and voting places will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT.

Voting by mail is an option, and advance voting will be available from Sept. 18 to 23. More information is available on the ElectionsBC website.

With files from Ruby Cornish and Simon Little