Elena Lawson was announced Wednesday as the BC United candidate in the Langford-Juan de Fuca byelection to fill the seat held by former premier John Horgan.
BC United leader Kevin Falcon introduced Lawson, a Metchosin mother who co-founded the grassroots Children’s Autism Federation of B.C., at the Langford Business Centre on Wednesday. She appeared with her husband and two young sons.
Lawson, whose eight-year-old son was diagnosed with autism in 2018, took on the province in 2021 over its new delivery plan for autism services.
The NDP government hit the reset button on the plan last November.
Falcon said that was thanks to Lawson, “and that’s exactly the kind of person that we want in the riding of Langford-Juan de Fuca.”
A date has not been set for a byelection to fill the seat, which is vacant following the retirement of John Horgan, who stepped down as premier in November and MLA in March.
Sooke School District board chairman Ravi Parmar is expected to be acclaimed on Saturday as the BC NDP candidate for the riding, while Camille Currie will run for the Green Party.
Parmar became chair of School District 62 in 2017 at age 22, the youngest person in Canada to hold such a position.
Currie, a Langford resident, is the founder and president of the Canada Pacific Health Care Matters Society, which has been advocating for change around the family doctor shortage in B.C.
In the 2020 provincial election, the NDP captured 67.0 per cent of the vote in Langford-Juan de Fuca, the Greens 16.7, and the Liberals (now BC United) 15 per cent. In 2017, the Liberals placed second behind the NDP and ahead of the Greens.
Horgan had been the MLA for the region since 2005.
