Heatley will likely try to unseat Harry Bloy

By Dan Hilborn
Published Nov. 10, 2004


The NDP is gearing up to fight the next provincial election.

A flurry of activity gets underway this weekend when the deadline expires for potential candidates to announce their intention to run for the party's nomination in the Burquitlam riding.

Bart Healey, who lost to incumbent MLA Harry Bloy in the 2001 election, is poised to win the Burquitlam nomination by acclamation, unless somebody else files papers prior to the party deadline this Sunday.

Healey, a university-educated truck driver, currently serves as president of the Lougheed area community policing advisory committee and has spent most of his spare time in the past 23 months knocking on doors in the riding, which straddles the border between Burnaby and Coquitlam.

A resident of the riding for 17 years, Healey also serves on the board of directors at the New Vista Foundation, is a self-employed owner-operator of a courier truck and a shop steward with the Canadian Auto Workers, local 114.

Also this week, the Vancouver Sun reported that former federal Liberal nominee Tony Kuo sent out an e-mail announcing that he is considering a run in the upcoming provincial election with either the B.C. Liberals or the B.C. NDP.

Kuo was reluctant to respond to questions about his political intentions when he was contacted by the Burnaby NOW two weeks ago to respond to rumours about his possible switch of party allegiances.

"No comment, no comment, no comment," Kuo said in that earlier interview.

He did not return phone calls this week.

Meanwhile, the NDP will hold its nominating meeting for the Edmonds riding on Nov. 21 and for the Burnaby North riding on Feb. 6, 2005. The nomination date for the Willingdon riding has not been set.