With a little more than a year until the next provincial election, local party associations in New Westminster are nearly done picking the horses they plan to run in the race.
And election chirping has already begun from B.C. Conservatives, New Democrats and Liberals.
Only the local B.C. Liberals are still actively seeking more potential candidates for the riding. So far, only one person has formally declared an interest in running - Hector Bremner, owner of local marketing consulting firm Touch Marketing.
Under B.C. Liberal constitution rules, local associations must demonstrate that they actively sought out potential candidates before anyone gets approval from the party.
Bremner said he decided to put his name forward locally after years of watching politics from the sidelines.
"I can't be in my kitchen complaining anymore. I can't stand by and watch," he said.
Bremner said he plans to run on platform based on economic issues and building on the successes the B.C. government has had over the last 10 years in better business, social services and environmental stewardship.
Bremner acknowledged that the Liberals will be fighting the next election on two fronts, but he cautioned, if New West constituents want to keep private enterprise strong and keep taxes low, they need to get behind a party with a coalition of centre-right ideas.
"I think what's going on with this so-called B.C. Conservative party is, quite frankly, ridiculous. These are folks who have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us for years, and now when the time gets tough, they run away and want to pretend they've got some sort of new solutions. All I'm hearing his criticism," he said.
The alternative, Bremner said, is NDP "special interests," which he defines as undue influence from the labour movement. He added that NDP can no longer count on winning the New Westminster riding as the city is going through changes that he believes work to the Liberals' advantage.
"It's not as safe as they think it is," he said. "Demographics have changed considerably in New Westminster over the past few years. I think the effort that we've been putting forward over the past year or so has proven that there's a lot more support for a private enterprise party than perhaps they realized."
The B.C. Conservatives, meanwhile, have largely finished their "inside baseball" in selecting a candidate, according to local B.C. Conservative board member and nominee-designate Paul Forseth.
Forseth, who represented New Westminster in federal Parliament from 1993 to 2006, said he has the support of the board, and the formalities to affirm him as a candidate will come later on.
Forseth quickly dismisses the notion that the emergence of a right-wing party in B.C. will split votes off from the B.C. Liberals, especially in New West.
"If someone is truly honest, they know that the Liberal candidate in New Westminster does not have a chance. Not a chance at all. They were quite far behind in previous elections. We know that Christy Clark is not going to get re-elected again. The provincial government is done," Forseth said. "If anyone is conservative-minded, they're not going to vote Liberal this time...It's the Liberals who will be splitting the vote on the right. And they don't have a chance anyways. We know that."
And the NDP, Forseth said, needs to be taught a lesson that the Royal City does not belong to them.
"The NDP believe that New Westminster belongs to them and they can do anything they want with it... It's their plaything. It's very presumptuous of them. They take the riding for granted," he said.
The NDP, which has held the riding for 16 of the last 21 years, confirmed Judy Darcy, former Canadian Union of Public Employees president, as a 2013 candidate in August.
Darcy said she has just had some pamphlets printed and she plans to start going door-to-door soon, not to campaign, but to learn what local priorities and issues are.
"I just want a chance to talk to people and hear from them at the doorstep what issues are a concern for them," she said.
Darcy said she is not making any predictions about how potential vote splitting will play out, but she doesn't see a changing New West as a threat to the NDP's chances locally.
"The new folks who are coming in are younger families because the rents and houses are somewhat more affordable than other places in the Lower Mainland, and those folks, in my experience, have the same kinds of concerns as longer-term residents," she said, referring to issues like child care, health care, senior care for relatives, and tuition costs.
Darcy said she expects the NDP to be accused of simply trying to spend the province's problems away, but NDP has pledged to run a financially responsible campaign, she said.
"It won't be a campaign trail littered with promises that can't be kept. Everything will be costed and accounted for," she said, adding that will mean changes for a "fairer taxation."
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