B.C. Election update for Sept. 22: Get the latest news from the campaign

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CAMPAIGN TRAIL NEWS

8:30 a.m. – Ex-Vancouver councillor George Affleck running for Liberals

George Affleck, a former Vancouver city councillor, has joined the Liberals’ list of candidates for the B.C. election.

Affleck, a communications specialist who represented the NPA for two terms on council (2011-2018), will run in the Vancouver-Fairview riding.

He was one of 19 new Liberal candidates unveiled by leader Andrew Wilkinson on Tuesday morning. Also announcing her candidacy was former Olympic snowboarder and Richmond city councillor Alexa Loo, who will run for the Liberals in Richmond South Centre.

7 a.m. – Health officer says months of work have gone into holding a safe election

The provincial health officer says she has been working with Elections B.C. for months to make sure an election can be conducted safely during the pandemic.

“I was not asked for advice on timing of an election,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said. “That is part of the political process that I am not part of, so I would not expect to have been asked.”

Henry said the she had been working with Elections B.C. since March — when the COVID-19 state of emergency was declared — to come up with safe ways to vote.

“That is something that we haven’t talked about before, that we’ve been working with Elections B.C. since in March, when there were (municipal) elections planned,” she said.

“We have been working with them continuously since that time, recognizing that there was potential for elections as this pandemic progressed, both municipal, provincial and federal. The guidelines that we’ve come up with include how political parties and their candidates need to keep themselves, their staff, volunteers and their communities safe during the campaign.”