Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford announced Tuesday (Sept. 3) that he will be running as a B.C. Conservative candidate in his current riding in the upcoming provincial election.
After BC United's abrupt end to its election campaign, the fallout among election candidates in Surrey and White Rock has been swift, with Surrey-Panorama candidate Dupinder Kaur Saran announcing Monday evening (Sept. 2) on X that she is no longer in the Conservative Party of B.C.
Halford, who says he took the weekend to make the decision with his family and supporters, found out about the B.C. United Party's demise "just like everyone else did."
"It came as a shock to me and the people around me."
But his focus quickly switched from shock to the people around him, and he ultimately decided to run for the B.C. Conservatives "to take on the NDP."
"I've always been a community-first guy. For me, it's never been about left or right. I know what my values are and I'm always going to fight for what's best for my community."
He said he didn't know anything about Bryan Tepper, the Conservative candidate for Surrey-White Rock prior to the long weekend, who will now reportedly run in Surrey-Panorama.
On X, formerly Twitter, Saran wrote the reasons for her decision to run as an Independent.
"As a candidate in Surrey-Panorama, I witnessed a Conservative candidate in Whiterock being bullied into leaving their riding & to choose either the Fleetwood or Panorama riding," Saran posted on X. "I could no longer watch this drama unfold & did the right thing by moving to a side, to make room for the Whiterock candidate."
Moving forward, Saran will continue running in the Panorama riding but as an independent, saying that the BC Conservative party is "now a Liberal Party running under the Conservative banner."
Halford says his focus will now be to defeat the NDP.
With issues such as affordable housing, mental health and hospitals dealing with staff shortages so dire that emergency rooms must be closed, his work is cut out for him, Halford said.
"They've had seven years to work on these issues. ... I'm going to hold the NDP to task."
Rustad, in an interview with Black Press Media, acknowledged that former BC United members, including Halford, have been previously critical of his party.
鈥淧olitics can be strange, and a week can be a long time in politics," Rustad said, noting even BC United leader Kevin Falcon was critical of Rustad and the BC Conservatives until the final day. "When you're riding for the brand, you're riding for the brand."
He said the former BC United candidates who are now running with the Conservatives 鈥� also including the newly announced Ian Paton in Delta South and Peter Milobar in Kamloops Centre 鈥� share a common goal with him and the rest of the BC Conservatives.
鈥淭hey share the same concern that we do, which is the very destructive policies that David Eby has been implementing in British Columbia, and they want to see change," Rustad said.
鈥淚 want to reassure people that the Conservative Party of British Columbia is not changing who we are, we will continue to stand on our principles, we will continue to stand for the values that we have been running for all along.鈥�
Elenore Sturko, MLA for Surrey South and Conservative Party of B.C. candidate for Surrey-Cloverdale, told Black Press Media that she was happy to see Trevor join the team.
鈥淚 think that he's been a good MLA,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 know that he's worked hard for his constituents.鈥�
Former White Rock mayor Darryl Walker, who's running for the BC NDP in Surrey-White Rock, said he wasn't surprised by the news when contacted by Black Press Media on Tuesday.
"I guess it makes sense for the Conservatives 鈥� he is the incumbent," Walker said. "It's politics! You've got to expect the unexpected."
Walker said he looks forward to wishing all candidates the best 鈥� and to upcoming election debates 鈥� and to letting "the cards fall where they may."
Black Press Media has reached out to Saran and Tepper for comment.
鈥� with files from Sobia Moman and Wolfgang Depner
