A former Alberta MLA has been nominated to run in the upcoming British Columbia provincial election for the Liberal Party. Alana DeLong, who served as the Progressive Conservative MLA for Calgary-Bow from 2001 to 2015, has been nominated as a BC Liberal candidate in the Nanaimo-North Cowachin constituency.
Excited to introduce @alanadelong as the BC Liberal candidate for #Nanaimo-North Cowichan. Welcome to #TeamBC2017! #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/nU30IvZH9G
— Today’s BC Liberals (@bcliberals) September 25, 2016
Ms. DeLong served as a government backbencher during her time as an MLA in Alberta and briefly ran a campaign for the leadership of the PC Party in 2006 following Ralph Klein‘s retirement. She did not run for re-election in 2015. According to her wikipedia biography, she moved to British Columbia after her retirement.
In the 2013 election, New Democratic Party MLA Doug Routley was re-elected in Nanaimo-North Cowachin with 46 percent of the vote, ahead of his Liberal opponent with 30 percent.
If elected, Ms. DeLong would join a small group of Canadians who have been elected as representatives in more than one provincial legislature. Former Alberta MLA Gordon Dirks, who served as the PC MLA for Calgary-Elbow from 2014 to 2015 also served as a PC MLA in the Saskatchewan Legislature from 1982 to 1986.
Despite their name, the BC Liberals are known to be much more conservative than their Liberal counterparts in Ottawa and other provinces.