Former Surrey South MLA Chapman withdraws from race, saying he has had enough

Five candidates are running for the Surrey South seat in the upcoming provincial election, but former MLA Brent Chapman will not be among them. Chapman had been listed as OneBC’s candidate for South Surrey before Saturday. His wife, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, is also missing from Elections BC’s candidate list. Findlay stepped down as Conservative Party of BC leader on Sept. 20 after several MLAs left the party or were asked to leave.

Chapman told Peace Arch News on Monday that he is not running because he has “just had enough – that’s all I’ll say about that.” Asked about Findlay’s absence from the ballot, he said: “Why would she be running? What would be the benefit of her running? I think, at some point, you stop.”

OneBC said in a social media statement over the weekend that it fully supports Chapman’s decision to “step back at this time” and wishes him all the best. The statement said the party was very excited to have Chapman join the team, but that the strain of the past few months had been enormous. It added that Chapman and Findlay’s “strong conservative values” were “not acceptable to the self-appointed leaders of the CPBC” and that the pair had been subjected to “a torrent of threats and abuse.”

As of the Saturday, Oct. 3, filing deadline, five candidates were vying for Surrey South. Denis R. Hurtubise appears as OneBC’s candidate for the riding on the party’s website, but is listed as unaffiliated on the Elections BC website. At press time, Peace Arch News was still seeking confirmation of Hurtubise’s affiliation. The other candidates are CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko; Conservative Party of BC candidate Megan Knight, who is just ending her term as White Rock mayor; BC NDP candidate Parik Tahlan; and BC Green Party candidate Bill McConnell. Knight had been running for re-election as mayor until the provincial election was called, after which she was able to withdraw from the municipal race.

Six candidates have been confirmed in Surrey-White Rock. Incumbent Conservative MLA Trevor Halford is again being challenged by former White Rock mayor Darryl Walker, the BC NDP candidate. Christine Kinnie has filed as the BC Green Party candidate. Former Surrey journalist Kevin Diakiw is running as an independent, Waqas Rana for CentreBC and Amanda James for OneBC.

Advance voting for the provincial election runs from Oct. 16 to 21, with final voting day set for Saturday, Oct. 24, one week after civic elections on Saturday, Oct. 17. With files from Tricia Leslie.