Surrey South byelection advance voting begins

Advance voting in the Surrey South byelection begins Thursday.

The NDP is hoping to clinch the seat that has historically been a Liberal stronghold. It became vacant after Liberal Stephanie Cadieux resigned in April to become Canada’s first chief accessibility officer.

There are five candidates vying for the seat. They include Pauline Greaves for the BC NDP, Conservative Harman Bhangu, Simran Sarai of the BC Green Party, Elenore Sturko with the BC Liberal Party, and Libertarian Jason Bax.

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• Cloverdale hospital becomes heated issue for upcoming Surrey South byelection

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• Surrey South byelection called for Sept. 10

Among the key issues is a proposed hospital in Cloverdale, which became a flashpoint last month when the BC NDP warned a vote for the BC Liberals would put the facility in jeopardy.

Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon has said that the proposed facility was not enough, noting the New Democrats had “promised Surrey voters a full-service hospital,” but that all they would get was “a glorified urgent care centre with just 168 beds, no ICU, and no maternity ward.”

Advance voting takes place from Sept. 1 to 4, and then from Sept. 6 to 7, with voting places closed for the holiday Monday. General voting day is set for Sept. 10.

The nomination period for the byelection closed last month.