With a short lead time to the federal election called for Monday, Sept. 20 – and four candidates confirmed to this point – voters in South Surrey – White Rock may be scrambling to get a sense of the issues and personalities in the local race.
But the South Surrey and White Rock Chamber of Commerce is playing its part in keeping the public informed.
The Chamber is organizing a virtual all-candidates forum for Thursday Sept. 9 from noon to 1:30 p.m. More than that, it has created a riding web page – to be updated on an ongoing basis – that will provide information about the local candidates, plus advance voting days and where to go to vote.
So far, confirmed candidates for the riding are Conservative incumbent Kerry-Lynne Findlay and Liberal challenger Gordon Hogg, who occupied the seat between a byelection victory in 2017 and 2019, NDP candidate June Liu and People’s Party of Canada candidate Gary Jensen.
A candidate for the Green Party has yet to be confirmed.
Among information shared on the chamber web page are links to Elections Canada pages on voter identification; where and how to register as a voter and advance polling dates.
Geographical boundaries of the riding are along 56 Avenue in the north and the Canada/U.S. border in the south, to the Delta border in the west and 194 Street (bordering the Langley-Aldergrove riding) in the east.
To be eligible to vote, residents must be 18 years old and have Canadian citizenship. Identification can include a driver’s licence and one other piece of government-issued photo identification. Alternative identification could be a voter information card and a bank statement or a utility bill and a student ID card. If that is unavailable, a voter can declare their identity and address in writing, provided someone who knows the voter can vouch for them and also prove their identity and address.
Advance polling days will be Friday, Sept. 10; Saturday Sept. 11; Sunday, Sept. 12 and Monday, Sept. 13, with polling places identified on voter information cards that will be sent out by mail.
In addition, voters can cast their ballot in person at any Elections Canada office across the country up until the sixth day before election day. On election day, voters must vote at their designated polling station, which will be included in mailed-out voter information cards, but will also be available online or by calling Elections Canada.
The chamber elections page can be found at sswrchamberofcommerce.ca
