BURST
Kerry-Lynne Findlay faces a make-or-break moment in her short time as B.C. Conservative leader during the Abbotsford–Mission byelection on Sept. 26.
One political observer says victory is far from certain for Findlay, with the NDP and Mike Bernier’s CentreBC both running candidates.
“Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s not getting a free ride here,” said Hamish Telford, a University of the Fraser Valley political scientist. “It’s sometimes the case in Canadian politics that other parties sort of give way to allow for a new leader to get a seat in the legislature, and that’s not happening this time.”
He said that Abbotsford–Mission is less Conservative than the other Abbotsford ridings because the city of Mission makes up the majority of the riding and its residents are more liberal than their neighbours south of the Fraser River.
Findlay has faced recent challenges, including the resignation of seven MLAs and the release of an audio clip where she tells MLAs she will give them a senior party adviser role if they step down to allow her to run.
Reann Gasper, who resigned as the MLA for Abbotsford–Mission on Aug. 22 to give her leader an opening to get elected, is now Findlay’s deputy chief of staff.
The Conservative leader did not respond to an interview request on Tuesday.
Despite the party’s confidence that it can retain a riding that Gasper took with 55 per cent of the vote in 2024, not all residents are ready to welcome Findlay with open arms.
Bryan Dafoe, a 49 year-old who has lived in Abbotsford for a decade, said he doesn’t know whom he will support during the byelection, but it won’t be Findlay.
“I’m not happy that the leader of the failing party in B.C. is running here,” Dafoe said, saying he is concerned by some of the comments made by Findlay and her husband, Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman.
He believes the resignation of Gasper to let Findlay run was strategic and that she may be a shoo-in, as much as he wishes Findlay would drop out of the race.
“The B.C. Conservative Party is in shambles and breaking apart more day by day, and the one in charge of that party wants to be the MLA in my city? That’s scary stuff and scary for Abbotsford.”
Another resident, 38 year-old Brooke Kuyer, said she is raising small children in the community she has lived in for 10 years and is looking for an MLA who may also have children and supports things like recreation, health care, small businesses.
On Findlay, Kuyer said, “I’ve been hearing her name, and I’ve kind of understood that people have been stepping down in order for her to step forward into that position. And then I know Pam Alexis from the NDP will be running again.”
Historically a safe B.C. Liberal riding, the seat was narrowly won by Alexis, a former Mission mayor, in the 2020 election. Alexis was minister of agriculture for almost two years before being defeated by Gasper in the last election.
Now, she is back as the ruling party’s candidate and out to prove why Findlay shouldn’t be allowed a seat in the legislature.
“It would be devastating for the community,” said Alexis. “Not being familiar with the needs of the community would be a risk, and No. 2, being in a prominent position as leader of the opposition, she might not be here. She may be travelling.”
She said she understands frustrations with health care, with frequent ER closures at Mission Memorial Hospital, and public safety, but believes that her familiarity with the community makes her the best choice to advocate for improvements.
Randy Hawes resigned as president of the Conservative riding association for Abbotsford-Mission after Gasper stepped down and believes that Findlay’s winning would be detrimental to the riding and the province.
“She’s an extreme right-wing person, and I don’t believe that’s what this province needs,” said Hawes. “After she got elected as leader, I waited a little while to hear what she had to say. And, honestly, I couldn’t take it. I can’t sit in a party that has a leader that speaks the way she does.”
In an effort to give voters a middle option between the NDP and the B.C. Conservatives, CentreBC has put forward Lakhwinder Jhaj as their candidate.
A candidate for the NDP in the 2009 and 2013 provincial elections, Jhaj said her political views have changed over the past decade as she has moved into business, as her family owns a farm, a car dealership and a construction firm in Abbotsford.
She said she isn’t worried about splitting the vote on the centre-right and believes most British Columbians are not on the extreme left or the extreme right.
“Right now in Abbotsford Mission, we have two parties. They’re both extreme. One to the left, one to the right. And I don’t think the people in British Columbia are extreme either way,” said Jhaj.
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