The North Shore's newest federal election riding now has at least two candidates' names on the 2015 ballot.
District of North Vancouver Coun. Mike Little will run for the Conservatives and Burnaby-based entrepreneur and university instructor Terry Beech has been named the Liberals' candidate for Burnaby North-Seymour.
Both federal newcomers won by acclamation after securing endorsements from fellow challengers in the riding in recent weeks.
The riding includes everything east of Lynn Creek up to the Seymour River and all the way to Deep Cove. The southern boundary is Lougheed highway in Burnaby.
Burnaby Douglas NDP MP Kennedy Stewart has calculated that if the 2011 election were held with the same borders, his two-per cent advantage would have been swallowed up by a seven-per cent boost for the Tories. Though Beech maintains the riding would go Liberal if the party's national polling numbers today are factored in with the riding's election returns of 2004 and 2006.
Little said he's not ready to declare whether he'll also be seeking his seat on district council again in this November's municipal election but he will make his decision public before the nomination period closes in October.
Both candidates agreed there's "no question" that Kinder Morgan's application to twin the Trans Mountain pipeline to Burrard Inlet is the top issue linking both sides of the riding.
As a council member, Little voted in favour of seeking intervenor status for Kinder Morgan's hearings before the National Energy Board but the motion stopped short of outright opposing the project. Little said his goal is to make sure the
NEB reaches a decision with the best possible information.
Citing many outstanding questions, neither candidate has decided whether they personally support Kinder Morgan's pipeline expansion.
For Little, it's a question of how diluted bitumen will behave if its hits the water.
"Will it sink or will it float? It sounds like a bad David Letterman sketch but we haven't been able to do an oil-in-water exercise where we can actually see if the product that's going to be shipped will actually sink or float in Burrard Inlet and what our ability is to clean it up is," Little said.
Beech said the Conservatives have acted more like cheerleaders than referees when it comes to Alberta oil projects, which has led to a lack of trust about environmental regulation. Still, Beech said he's in "listening and learning mode" on the issue.
"I'm not convinced it's the best solution for Burnaby North-Seymour and certainly, knocking on doors, it's an issue I hear a lot of," he said.
The NDP has yet to select a candidate though North Vancouver's Michael Charrois and Burnaby's Trevor Ritchie have both declared bids.
