The next provincial election is not until May 9, 2017. Will Coquitlam-Burke Mountain residents have to wait that long to get a new MLA?
More than six weeks have already passed since Douglas Horne resigned his MLA's seat to run in the federal election in the riding of Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam and there has been no word on the process to elect his replacement.
While it's true Horne resigned on Aug. 14 and a byelection doesn't, by law, have to be called until Feb. 17, 2016, residents living in his provincial riding surely want a byelection because they have many concerns to deal with.
It's not their fault the former MLA decided to quit just over halfway through his term to run federally.
But now these folks are without local representation and there are at least two concerns to deal with. For one, Smiling Creek elementary is still waiting for provincial funding approval and TransLink says it has no money for buses to link Burke Mountain with the Evergreen Line.
These issues need local representation. A byelection must be called soon.
