It's going to be a contest in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows about who represents the NDP next election.
Korleen Carreras said Thursday she'll be trying for the nomination, against Elizabeth Rosenau.
Carreras is the former owner and artistic director of the Port Moody School of Dance and
currently works at the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union. She currently sits
on the board of the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Arts Council and is a member of the Pitt
Meadows Community Association.
She lives in Pitt Meadows with her husband Diego and
two sons, Mateo, age 11, and Emilio, age 6.
She says she wants restore "integrity and fairness in the legislature and ultimately we need to elect a NDP government to accomplish that," she said in a release.
Constituency association president Craig Speirs is glad the nomination will be contested, saying both would make good candidates and will give the party an even chance to hold the riding in the spring 2013 provincial election, after current MLA Michael Sather steps down.
NDP policy requires that candidates who follow a MLA's resignation must be female, a member of a visible minority or lesbian-gay-bisexual or transgendered.
However, nomination dates have yet to be set. Those could take place either this spring or fall, said Speirs.
He pointed out that if Terry Becker has to contest the Liberal nomination with Maple Ridge Coun. Michael Morden, there could be two nomination contests before the election. Morden has yet to make his decision on whether to pursue that.
"Either of them would be good candidates from the right and we'd have a good tilt here," Speirs said.
"Korleen has a diverse background as a business owner, community activist, and as a trade unionist," said
Pitt Meadows Coun. Bruce Bell, a long-time New Democrat.