B.C. NDP nominates school trustee Katrina Chen to run in Burnaby-Lougheed

by Charlie Smith on October 2nd, 2016 at 9:14 PM

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This weekend, provincial New Democrats nominated five candidates for next May's election, including four incumbents.

The only newcomer to B.C. politics on the list is Katrina Chen, a Burnaby school trustee. She has become the party's standard-bearer in Burnaby-Lougheed.

The constituency has been represented since 2013 by New Democrat Jane Shin, who has decided not to seek reelection.

Shin is B.C.'s first Korean-born MLA.

Chen was born in Taiwan, arriving in B.C. as a foreign student 16 years ago. In 2014, she was elected to the Burnaby board of education as a member of the Burnaby Citizens Association.

Big issues in Burnaby include funding levels for public education and the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline, which is vehemently opposed by Burnaby city council.

https://twitter.com/camlileron/status/782369381544136705

Chen is the second Taiwanese-born NDP candidate to be nominated in Burnaby. Earlier this year, Burnaby councillor Anne Kang was acclaimed as the candidate in Burnaby-Deer Lake, where she hopes to replace the soon-to-retire Kathy Corrigan as MLA.

The other NDP MLAs to be nominated this weekend were David Eby (Vancouver-Point Grey), Claire Trevena (North Island), Carole James (Victoria-Beacon Hill), and Michelle Mungall (Nelson-Creston).