With 473 days to go before the next federal election, Burnaby North-Seymour MP Terry Beech kicked off his re-election campaign with a rally on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Beech said the event would mark the beginning of the entire Liberal campaign for Western Canada. He said he expected the rally to be attended by a few hundred people, including several other Liberal MPs, including cabinet members Harjit Sajjan and Jody Wilson-Raybould.
He said he was the first Liberal to be nominated in B.C. thanks, in part, to his commitment to door-knocking in the community.
He said it’s not too early to begin campaigning, even though the election isn’t until Oct. 21, 2019.
“It’s not an unusual timeline,” he said “I think it happens like this all the time.”
Beech said he would be spending more time in the community, door-knocking and meeting with constituents as part of his effort to remain in Parliament.
“The more time you have to campaign, the better,” he said.
He won the seat with 36 per cent of the vote in 2015.
Beech said that campaigning would not take away from his top priority — serving his constituents.
“Every member of Parliament has several hats that they have to wear,” he said. “One of those is being a good MP and continuing to be able to do the things that get us elected: continuing to door-knock (and) continuing to fundraise. This is something that I’ve taken seriously since the election.”
Local NDP and Conservative riding associations have yet to declare candidates in Burnaby-North Seymour.
