While Coquitlam Coun. Bonita Zarrillo clinched the nomination Sunday to run for the federal NDP in Port Moody-Coquitlam — thus paving the way for a municipal byelection, should she win the race in October — another meeting will be held tomorrow (Thursday) in the other Tri-City electoral district.
Conservative strategist Nicholas Insley is up against Peter Stainton, a retired School District 43 teacher, for the Tory nod in Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, the riding currently held by Liberal MP Ron McKinnon.
McKinnon is seeking a second term under Grit leader Justin Trudeau while the NDP have tentatively set a date for their nomination meeting: April 28 at the City Centre branch of the Coquitlam Public Library.
A riding executive spokesperson declined to name the candidates; however, Port Coquitlam resident Christina Gower — a registered psychiatric nurse and patient advocate — confirmed she has put her name forward for nomination (Gower also has set up a Facebook page @ChristinaGower4NDP).
Meanwhile, no date has been set for the Conservative contest in Port Moody-Coquitlam, the riding currently held by NDP MP Fin Donnelly who announced last year he’s not running for re-election on Oct. 21.
In that nomination campaign, Matthew Sebastiani — a former advisor to Conservative B.C. Senator Yonah Martin — is up against Nelly Shin, who relocated to Coquitlam in January and previously ran for the Tories in Ontario (party officials did not immediately return calls or emails).
Last month, BC Hydro engineer Sara Badiei was declared the Liberal candidate for Port Moody-Coquitlam.
