Once the mail-in ballots are counted, the BC could have up to seven new deputies.
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While thousands of mail-in ballots have yet to be counted, the final results of the 2021 federal election will not yet be known for a few days, but at least four new MPs have been declared in British Columbia.
Some, like the longtime liberal John Aldag, won by regaining their horsemanship. Others, like the conservative Frank Caputo, replaced a retiring party incumbent.
Although most of these candidates are not new to politics, they are fresh on the scene for their newly elected party.
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John Aldag, Langley City – Cloverdale
Aldag has secured Cloverdale-Langley City by a 2.3 percent voting margin or 1,150 votes. However, the position is not entirely new to liberals. Before 2019, when driving turned blue for conservative Tamara Jansen, she served as a deputy.
Aldag’s platform promised to advance the SkyTrain in the City of Langley, establish diversity, inclusion and agriculture advisory councils, and work to secure future investments in zero-emission technologies and sustainable jobs.
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Frank Caputo, Kamloops-Thompson – Cariboo
The Conservatives have retained Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, but with a new candidate, one who led the race with an 8,979 vote lead.
Caputo, who first participated in the campaign, was a Crown prosecutor and a law professor at Thompson Rivers University, will succeed Conservative Representative Cathy McLeod, who decided not to seek reelection this term.
Caputo is committed to fighting street crime, government transparency issues, and high taxes.
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Bonita Zarillo, Port Moody – Coquitlam
The new Democrat ousted former Conservative MP Nelly Shin by 2,096 votes in Port Moody-Coquitlam. The three-term city councilman lost to Shin in the 2019 election.
Rising to the top this period, Zarillo’s platform focused on the issues facing working families, including supporting small businesses and housing affordability. Currently, Zarillo chairs two Coquitlam committees that promote multiculturalism and accessibility for residents with disabilities.
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Parm Bains, Steveston – Richmond
The Liberal ousted Conservative MP Kenny Chiu for Steveston-Richmond with 42.8 percent of the vote, compared with 33.2 percent for the incumbent.
Bains’ platform promised help for middle-class families looking for new, affordable housing. A former Kwantlen business instructor, Bains continues to volunteer as vice president of the Richmond Community Coalition and other initiatives that promote civic engagement. In 2005, he received a BC Community Service award.
Three closed races remain in BC that will be determined by vote-by-mail ballots and potentially recounts. Undoubtedly, two of them will lead to a change of party lines, one of them has not yet been determined.
On the Vancouver-Granville battlefield, only 230 votes separate Liberal candidate Taleeb Noormohamed and Anjali Appadurai from the NDP. This riding was in the hands of liberal-turned-independent Jody Wilson-Raybould, who had decided not to run for reelection.
At Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Green incumbent Paul Manly has lost, leaving NDP’s Lisa Marie Barron and conservative Tamara Kronis to fight. At the last count, Barron was 989 votes ahead of Kronis.
And at Richmond Center, liberal Wilson Miao was 691 votes ahead of conservative Alice Wong, who had represented riding since 2008.
Reference-vancouversun.com