A thirty year champion for Canadian parks and wild spaces, and twice-elected MP for Surrey-Cloverdale, John Aldag has officially accepted the BC NDP nomination in Langley-Abbotsford.

John Aldag grew up on a farm on the prairies, where he learned the value of kindness, hard work, and the contribution that rural communities and agriculture make to our food security and our common prosperity. In 2005, John and his family chose to make Langley their home. He sought federal office in 2015 to ensure that his community had strong local representation, serving seven years in Parliament. Inspired by David Eby, John has left the federal Liberal party to join the BC NDP and is seeking office as the MLA for Langley-Abbotsford to ensure that his community has a representative in the legislature that is on their side.

“The people of Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley have experienced a lot in the last few years, from a global pandemic to 2021’s devastating floods and the washouts of Highway 1 and Highway 7. We understand why it’s so critical to have a government that’s in your corner,” said Aldag. “The BC NDP has taken action to improve the Valley’s security and prosperity, including a $300 million investment in food security and climate resilience for food producers. When Rustad was in cabinet, his government slashed supports to farmers. The BC NDP will be in the agricultural sector’s corner.”

Since forming government in July 2017, the BC NDP has taken action on crucial issues that matter to the people of Langley-Abbotsford, including:

• Connecting people to produce grown in British Columbia by relaunching Buy BC, and expanding the program to include Grow BC and Feed BC;
• Putting people ahead of speculators and investors by bringing in tough new restrictions on short-term rentals and a speculation tax, plus simplified approvals that make it easier and faster to get 300,000 new homes built;
• Connecting people to the care they need by hiring 700 more family doctors, licensing internationally-educated healthcare workers in BC and building a new medical school at SFU Surrey to train even more doctors; and
• Helping people with costs by eliminating MSP Premiums, reducing ICBC rates by $500 a year, boosting the BC Family Benefit by $445, cutting childcare fees in half, and making birth control free.

“In federal office, John passed bills tackling cancers related to firefighting and took on multiple complex files, from Natural Resources to Indigenous and Northern Affairs,” said Premier David Eby. “The people of Langley-Abbotsford can count on him to put that experience to work for them.”

John Aldag will join David Eby and 91 other exceptional BC NDP candidates in this fall’s provincial election, all committed to real action to help people build a good life here in BC.