Conservative South Surrey-White Rock riding incumbent Kerry-Lynne Findlay said she first saw the decision to call a federal election as an opportunistic move by Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.
“It was unnecessary,” she said. “There were no pressing issues. (Parliament) was in summer recess. The NDP leader had written to the Governor General that they had no plans to bring down the government. People weren’t happy about it.”
But now, she said, she sees the resulting campaign as an opportunity to sell Canadians on a Conservative plan for post-pandemic economic recovery that includes an emphasis on things like housing affordability by using government resources to increase housing stock, supporting small and independent businesses, and an ambitious employment plan to use wage subsidies to recover one million jobs lost during the pandemic.
“After a few days of getting upset about it, I decide to embrace it as an opportunity to make a change in Ottawa,” she said.
“I feel we have a really solid economic recovery plan and that people are liking it, across the country and here in South Surrey-White Rock.
“Even though we were still in August and still struggling with how we, as individuals and families, were going to get through the pandemic, I get the feeling that people would like a change.
“I didn’t really anticipate that, because people have had to deal with so much change and uncertainty in their own lives.”
Findlay was elected MP for the riding – traditionally, a Conservative stronghold – in 2019, posting a four per cent lead over the then-incumbent, Liberal Gordie Hogg.
Formerly a lawyer in downtown Vancouver with a successful practice focusing on civil litigation, family law, employment law, aboriginal land issues and mediation, Findlay spent most of her growing-up years on Vancouver Island before going to UBC, where she earned her law degree and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science.
A seasoned parliamentarian, she previously served as MP for the Delta-Richmond East riding from 2011-2015, during which time she was appointed Minister of National Revenue (2013-2015), Associate Minister of National Defence (2013) and Parliamentary Secretary to Justice (2011-2013).
During her current time in parliament, Findlay served as the Shadow Minister for the Environment and Climate Change for the Official Opposition and was recently named the Conservative Party’s representative on CANZUK, a proposed trade alliance between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. She also serves on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
A member of the Canadian Bar Association and the BC India Business Network Advisory Board, she is also highly involved in her community, as an active member of Rotary International, (2018-19 Club President), South Surrey White Rock Chamber of Commerce, and the Surrey Board of Trade.
Findlay lives in South Surrey with her husband, Brent Chapman.
They are the parents of four children, and grandparents of three boys and one girl.