The NDP and Green Party have announced local candidates for the upcoming provincial election.
Jasleen Arora and Andrew Christie were declared as the NDP candidates in Abbotsford South and Abbotsford-Mission, respectively on Thursday.
According to the NDP, Arora lives in Burnaby and works for Steps Forward at Simon Fraser University, an organization supporting post-secondary students with developmental disabilities. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminology and psychology from SFU, as well as a master’s of science in leadership and organizations – philanthropic leadership from the University of Denver. She will face incumbent BC Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas, and the Green Party’s Aird Flavelle.
Christie lives in Vancouver and has worked as a community food advocate with Gordon Neighbourhood House, according to the NDP.
“He built their food access program from the ground up, expanding it from a twice weekly lunch program to a comprehensive program that build over 70 community garden plots and fed over 400 people a week,” an NDP spokesperson wrote in an email.
He is also a trained fundraiser who has “worked to elect progressive candidates across the Lower Mainland,” the spokesperson wrote, without specifying who Christie had worked for.
He will face Green candidate Jennifer Holmes and BC Liberal incumbent Simon Gibson.
On Tuesday, the Green Party announced the candidacy of Flavelle.
Flavelle, the founder of information technology company MSA Computers, previously ran for the Greens in the Abbotsford-Mission riding.
The Abbotsford West riding will see the NDP’s Preet Rai challenge BC Liberal incumbent Mike de Jong.
The local ridings have also changed, with Abbotsford-Mission ridings extending to the highway east of Sumas Way, Abbotsford South extending to 248th Street in Langley, and Abbotsford West now including territory immediately to the east of the historic downtown.
