The B.C. Conservatives have confirmed White Rock Mayor Megan Knight as their candidate for the riding of Surrey South.
It puts Knight in the unusual position of occupying a ballot space in both upcoming local and provincial elections, scheduled for Oct. 17 and 24, respectively.
“As mayor, she’s known for working seven days a week,” Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson said in a statement issued Friday.
“She believes good decisions start with listening.”
Every election cycle, it’s common for several councillors and mayors around the province to try and make the jump to B.C. politics.
But the timing of the snap provincial election call has complicated things.
The deadline to withdraw from the municipal ballot was Oct. 18 — four days before the provincial election was called, when the Conservative Party was still in disarray under the leadership of Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
A number of councillors from across the province removed their names from the ballot that day, and two of them — Terrace’s Sarah Zimmerman and Courtenay’s Will Cole-Hamilton — have been announced as provincial candidates for the NDP.
However, any candidate who wanted to wait on making a decision until the Conservative Party’s internal politics settled, or the NDP officially called the snap election, will be caught in a similar position as Knight.
Can someone be a mayor and an MLA?
There is no law preventing someone from running in municipal and provincial races at the same time, but in May last year the B.C. government passed legislation banning people from holding both offices simultaneously.
That followed the election of Misty Van Popta as a Township of Langley councillor in 2022 and a B.C. Conservative MLA in 2024. She was one of 13 local politicians elected provincially, but the only one who decided to hold onto both offices.
She was heavily criticized for the move by political rivals, with the NDP’s Darlene Rotchford (who resigned her council seat when she became an MLA) accusing her of “splitting her time and focus while collecting two taxpayer-funded salaries.”
The Eligibility to Hold Public Office Act banning B.C. MLAs from concurrently holding office in local governments became law on May 28, 2025 and Van Popta lost her spot on council.
If elected next month, the Conservative Party could repeal that legislation, allowing Knight and others in her position to occupy dual roles once again.
When the CBC asked whether the party was planning to do that, a spokesperson said the party’s platform was still being determined.
Other names on the ballot in the Surrey South race include CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko and OneBC’s Brent Chapman.