Is Delta a battle ground in the upcoming federal election?
If the first week of the campaign is any indication, it certainly is.
Conservative candidate Garry Shearer welcomed leader Erin O’Toole to the riding last Saturday night – six days after the writ dropped. And with Lower Mainland stops in the Tri-Cities earlier in the week – and a visit for an announcement and a commitment on the opioid crisis in New Westminster Sunday morning following his Delta visit, it is clear to me that O’Toole is not only targeting Delta but several other seats in the Lower Mainland as well.
O’Toole’s press secretary also told me Saturday night that O’Toole will very likely return to Delta later in this campaign.
What figured to be, in my mind, a fairly routine and mundane campaign in Delta, is certainly off to a rousing start.
There are five confirmed candidates – incumbent Carla Qualtrough for the Liberals, Shearer for the Conservatives, Monika Dean for the NDP, Jeremy Smith for the Greens and Paul Tarasenko for the People’s Party of Canada.
Dean, Smith and Tarasenko are all new to politics and first-time candidates.
It’s great to see new faces, young faces in Tarasenko and Dean and another female candidate on the ticket. More young people should be getting involved in politics and seeing this take place in Delta is fantastic. I’m looking forward to speaking and learning about all of our candidates in the coming weeks.
We here at the Optimist will do our best to provide our readers both in print and online with as comprehensive election coverage as we can. I encourage everyone to check out our federal election section on our website under the local news tab, where you will also find companion stories from our newsrooms across the Lower Mainland, while our Canadian Press feed on the website will provide up-to-date national coverage.
Do your part. Be informed and whoever you choose, be sure to exercise your right and vote in advance or on election night Sept. 20.
