HARMAN Bhangu, who is Vice President of the B.C. Conservative Party, is seeking his party’s nomination in the new riding of Langley-Abbotsford.
Bhangu, who is happily married and is the proud father of a son and daughter, operates a medium-sized, family-owned aggregate trucking company. Much of their business and many of their customers are in the Langley-Abbotsford riding.
“My wife and I are currently looking to make this area our new home to live and raise our young family. It’s where so many of my friends have moved, due to being priced out of homes where we grew up in Delta. Getting housing affordability under control is one of the many reasons why I am running for this nomination,” he says.
Bhangu has been director of the South Surrey-White Rock electoral district association for the Conservative Party of Canada (MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s riding). He was also on Pierre Poilievre’s leadership run team.
Explaining how he ended up becoming Vice President of the B.C. Conservative Party, Bhangu said that a few years ago, he realized he didn’t like the direction British Columbia was going with policies like so-called “Safe Supply Drugs” – newly rebranded as “prescribed alternatives.” Other policies taking us in the wrong direction? Bhangu has a long list: decriminalization of hard drugs; the carbon tax, which he blames for record high inflation; policies that have led to the current state of our healthcare system; and those that “have contributed to disturbing stories you have likely heard coming from our children’s education system.” He adds: “Speaking of our education system, we need to get back to preparing our children for the next level of learning, rather than imposing on them a particular set of social values.”
Bhangu says: “But complaining about the situation wasn’t going to change anything, so I decided to do something about it. I had friends in the political world who shared similar concerns, and we decided to start an initiative group called CommonSenseBC, where I served on the steering committee. We realized we did not have a real conservative option in provincial politics, so we got involved with the Conservative Party of British Columbia with the goal of getting the party into fighting shape in time for the next election.”
He adds: “In 2022 our slate was elected at the AGM. In addition to my board duties, I took on the role of Regional Director for Surrey. When called upon, I made arrangements with my business so I could run as the CPBC candidate in the by-election. It wasn’t the riding I lived in, nor the one I would have ideally chosen to run in, but our newly-rebranded party needed a different image to counter the predictable narrative from the unfriendly media towards conservatives.”
Bhangu says: “At the outset, I was expected to only get 2% or less of the vote. Our party had not run a candidate in the Surrey South riding for almost 50 years. We were able to garner almost 13% and finish third – with only three weeks of campaign time! I was proud to have received the endorsement of our current leader, John Rustad, during the by-election. John had recently been kicked out the BC Liberal Party by leader Kevin Falcon, for the crime of retweeting an expert who wrote about climate science and the carbon tax.”
He adds: “Since then, our team has worked hard to build the party, convinced John to join our party as leader, and made a case for MLA Bruce Banman to cross the floor and give us official party status for the first time in 50 years. I have served as Vice President since the last AGM and am looking forward to taking on an even greater challenge as your MLA in the fall.”
Bhangu asserts: “If you are willing to invest in a membership to help me win the nomination, my pledge to you is that I will take this same work ethic to Victoria to fight for a better future for my family and yours.”
Only members of the party can cast a ballot at the upcoming nomination voting day. Members must be 14 years old and either a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident.
