Dave Sidhu is the first person to enter the race for the newly vacant seat on Abbotsford city council.
Bruce Banman announced on Friday (Feb. 19) his intention to step down from his position as councillor with the city to focus more on his role as MLA for Abbotsford South.
Later that day, the city of Abbotsford confirmed a byelection will occur to fill that seat.
Sidhu did participate in the 2018 Abbotsford municipal election, but narrowly missed gaining a seat on council at that time. He collected 12,187 votes, good for ninth place – only the top eight vote getters earned a seat.
RELATED: Abbotsford 2018 municipal election results
He was the only member of the AbbotsfordFirst slate to not earn a seat, as Brenda Falk, Ross Siemens, Kelly Chahal and Sandy Blue all finished in the top eight.
Sidhu made the announcement on his Instagram account on Monday morning (Feb. 22).
“I want to ensure that Abbotsford is a place that can provide opportunities for families – opportunities for this generation and the next,” he stated on the post. “Community service has always been an integral part of my life, and it’s what I hope to do while on council: serve all members of our community with equality, dignity, and respect.”
Sidhu runs The Patrika, a bilingual paper that publishes weekly out of Abbotsford. He is also the current president of the Fraser Valley Indo-Canadian Business Association and is a director with both the Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation and the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce.
Last April, Sidhu helped form the Abbotsford Business Community Coalition. Its aim is to help support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
RELATED: Abbotsford business group forms to help those struggling with COVID-19 issues
The city will provide byelection information in the coming weeks, including information on COVID protocols and how they intersect with the voting process. Members of the public wishing to run for office will be able to find candidate information on the city’s website: abbotsford.ca.