Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in the Metro Vancouver area on Saturday to campaign for a Liberal candidate in this month’s federal byelection in Surrey.
The riding of South Surrey-White Rock is up for grabs after former Conservative MP Dianne Watts resigned to seek the BC Liberal leadership.
Trudeau is attending a campaign event for former White Rock mayor and B.C. Liberal MLA Gordon Hogg.
Hogg is locked in what is expected to be a tight battle with former Conservative National Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
The area has traditionally voted Conservative but in the 2015 federal election, the Tories’ Watts won the seat by fewer than 1,500 votes over Liberal Judy Higgenbotham, amid the Liberals’ “red surge” across the Lower Mainland.
The New Democrats, who won just over 10 per cent of the vote in 2015, are running Jonathan Silveira.
The real estate agent and founder of Surrey Kids Matter ran unsuccessfully for the BC NDP in the May provincial election.
Trudeau’s visit, his second within a month, may indicate that the Liberals see the riding as winnable. The party has also dispatched Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to the riding to help with on-the-ground campaigning.
Newly minted federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer also made an appearance in the riding last month.
South Surrey-White Rock voters will go to the polls on Dec. 11.
-With files from the Canadian Press