With just under two-and-a-half months to go in Canada’s longest modern election campaign, potential candidates still have plenty of time to get in the race.
At 78 days, the long march to the Oct. 19 election date that began on Aug. 2 is only exceeded by the epic 89-day Canadian election campaign of 1872.
But the deadline to file the necessary nominating papers with Elections Canada is three weeks before election day.
Which is why, though all the major parties have announced candidates for the newly-created Cloverdale-Langley City and Langley—Aldergrove ridings, the Elections Canada website was reporting “there are no candidates who have been officially confirmed in your electoral district” when The Times did a search for candidates on Monday.
So far, here’s who has announced they will be running:
In Langley—Aldergrove, Conservative MP Mark Warawa is going for his fifth victory in a row.
Warawa, a former Abbotsford city councillor, represented both Langleys before the recent redistribution that split the territory in two.
His accomplishments, as listed on his campaign website, include the Aldergrove Border Crossing and Bedford Channel upgrades, rebuilding Nicomekl Bridge and the construction of the Carvolth Bus Exchange and several legislative initiatives including Kassandra’s Law “calling impaired driving what it is: Vehicular Homicide.”
At the moment, Warawa is facing five challengers.
For the New Democrats, it’s Margot Sangster, whose campaign biography cites over 30 years of experience “in governance, public health, education, workforce development and the private sector.”
Sangster recently worked as an advisor in Afghanistan with the Ministries of Labour and Agriculture in that country.
Liberal Leon Jensen is a retired member of the Canadian Armed Forces with “a desire to continue with my service to Canada through the political process.”
His resume includes a tour of duty with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Green candidate Simmi Dhillon stressed her family’s roots in her campaign bio, noting her great-grandfather worked on the railway “that would eventually join British Columbia to the rest of Canada.”
Pirate party candidate Craig Nobbs is making his second run on behalf of the party, which is modeled on the identically named Swedish party that concentrates on issues of copyright reform, privacy, net neutrality and open government.
Libertarian Lauren Southern was recently reinstated as the party’s Langley candidate following a brief suspension over her public comments on a “Slut Walk” anti-rape protest in Vancouver.
In Cloverdale-Langley City, there is no incumbent.
But based on previous election results, Conservative candidate Dean Drysdale is the front runner.
Drysdale was nominated to be the Conservative candidate in the new riding on November of last year.
He runs his own consulting firm and was on Langley Township Council for two consecutive terms.
NDP candidate Rebecca Smith runs a management consulting firm and is a former executive director of the B.C. Psychological Association and a founder and past president of BullyFree BC.
She has an online profile that describes her as a “driven executive management professional with over 18 years broad-based experience.”
Liberal John Aldag describes himself as an “avid outdoorsman” who has lived in six provinces and two territories thanks to his 31-year career with Parks Canada.
Aldag is the current President of Flip City Gymnastics, and a former chair of both the Fort Langley Business Improvement Association and Tourism Langley.
Green candidate Scott Anderson lives in Cloverdale “but is building a new home in Langley City” his campaign bio stresses.
Anderson is a small business owner and a member of the Langley Environmental Protection Society.