A well-known Kamloops lawyer and former B.C. Provincial Court judge will be seeking the federal NDP nomination in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding.
Bill Sundhu says Canada is at a ‘historic crossroads’ with a lot at stake when it comes to the economy, healthcare, and the environment.
“This is a critical year in our history. The decisions that we make this year will affect us for decades. The pandemic has exposed enormous inequities and gaps in our political, economic, and social systems,” he told NL News. “There is so much at stake, and so we need a new approach and we need bold, courageous leaders in Ottawa, and I hope to be that voice for our riding.”
Sundhu ran as the NDP candidate in the 2015 federal election, garnering more than 30 per cent of the vote, but he lost to Conservative MP Cathy McLeod by about 3,000 votes.
He mulled running again in the 2019 election but instead served as the party’s riding president.
“Back in 2018/2019, I had personal family and professional obligations that I had undertaken. One was my elderly mother who passed away in 2020. Those issues are not the same now,” Sundhu added. “My schedule and my obligations are much for freer so that I can make the kind of commitment that political service requires.”
In 2019, the NDP had its worst result in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding in well over a decade, with candidate Cynthia Egli getting less than 14 per cent of total vote. She was the party’s third candidate in this riding; Dock Currie was asked to step down because of his social media posts, and before him Gina Myhill-Jones opted to step down, saying she was not able to ‘give the 110 per cent that the role of candidate requires’.
“My decision to seek the nomination has nothing to do with Ms. McLeod’s decision not to run,” Sundhu said. “I had made the decision prior to that, but I’ve been busy putting together a strong, experienced team, and also to organize my legal and trial schedule as a lawyer so that I can be totally available for the requirements of a campaign.”
Sundhu is the first person to declare candidacy for the NDP in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding. For the Conservatives, both Beverley DeSantis and Mike Grenier have declared their intention to seek the nomination.
