called the byelection on Saturday (Aug. 29)<\/a>, one week after outgoing Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper resigned to make way for Findlay.<\/p>\nAccording to a news release on Sunday (Aug. 30), Jhaj is stepping forward because she believes the people of Abbotsford-Mission deserve a voice that \u201cputs people and communities ahead of partisan agendas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am honoured to be the CentreBC candidate for Abbotsford-Mission,\u201d Jhaj said in the news release. \u201cI am running because I believe our community deserves a voice that listens, works hard and puts local priorities first. This is about bringing people together and making sure Abbotsford-Mission has a strong voice at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jhaj is a longtime resident of the Fraser Valley who has also lived in Penticton.<\/p>\n
In 2021, Jhaj appeared by video before Abbotsford council to request that a local street be named in memory of the 1914 Komagata Maru incident. In 2023, the city commemoratively renamed a section of South Fraser Way to Komagata Maru Way, in collaboration with the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society, Khalsa Diwan Society and the South Asian Studies Institute.<\/p>\n
Jhaj unsuccessfully sought the BC Liberals nomination for Abbotsford South in 2020. She also ran for the NDP in Abbotsford South in 2013 and before that, in the Boundary-Similkameen riding in 2009.<\/p>\n
In the 2021 federal election, she was the Liberal Party of Canada candidate for the Skeena\u2014Bulkley Valley riding and finished fourth with 7.7 per cent of the vote.<\/p>\n
According to the Liberal Party of Canada website, Jhaj was on the Mission\u2013Matsqui\u2013Abbotsford Electoral District Association (EDA) board of directors as of November 2025.<\/p>\n
CentreBC leader Mike Bernier said her nomination reflects community-based leadership. He said Jhaj is a \u201cstrong, community-minded candidate who understands that politics should be about serving people, listening to their concerns and getting things done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people of Abbotsford-Mission deserve a representative who will put their interests first. Lakhwinder brings energy, integrity and a commitment to building a better future for this community, and I am proud to have her representing CentreBC,\u201d Bernier said.<\/p>\n
CentreBC was founded in 2025 and is not represented in the legislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Abbotsford-Mission by-election is an opportunity for voters to choose a new kind of politics-one that is centred on people, not parties,\u201d the news release reads.<\/p>\n
Candidate nominations for the byelection close on Saturday (Sept. 5) at 1 p.m. Advance voting is slated for Sept. 18 to 23 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2013 With files from Black Press Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CentreBC announces candidate for Abbotsford-Mission byelection Published 4:39 pm Sunday, August 30, 2026 Another candidate has entered the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":878055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-878054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/878055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}