SURREY, B.C. - Bill McConnell spent 19 years teaching electrical apprentices at BCIT how to do the job safely and well. Now the retired electrician is asking Surrey South voters to send that trades-floor experience to the B.C. Legislature as the BC Green Party candidate.
McConnell is a retired electrician, trades instructor and longtime skilled-trades professional with decades of experience in construction, industrial maintenance and technical education, according to his BC Green Party biography. He graduated from Delta Secondary School in Ladner and went on to earn a diploma in Electrical Technology from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He holds an interprovincial Red Seal certification as an electrician, additional electrical trade certifications and a Provincial Instructor’s Diploma from Vancouver Community College.
His working life took him across the map. The party biography says McConnell worked on and supervised a wide range of construction and industrial projects, both locally and in remote work camps. His experience included self-employment in a northern community, maintenance electrician roles in Toronto and North Vancouver, and responsibility for complex electrical installations. Among his professional accomplishments, he supervised the installation of a complex high-voltage substation in North Vancouver and worked on prototype packaging machines in the United States, making the design changes needed to bring the systems into successful operation.
Then came the classroom years. McConnell spent 19 years teaching electrical apprentices at BCIT, helping train the next generation of skilled tradespeople. His background in the trades, the party says, gave him extensive experience in technical problem-solving, project supervision and practical decision-making.
That working person’s lens sits at the centre of his campaign. “We have bold ideas to change the political and economic models that let the very rich get even richer while the rest of us fall further behind,” McConnell says. He is running in Surrey South, the party says, to advocate for stronger healthcare, environmental protection, greater economic fairness and public policy that better supports working people and communities. The BC Greens, led by Emily Lowan, are campaigning under the banner “Believe in Better,” built around a life people can afford, care they can count on, economic fairness for all and fighting for the future.
McConnell has no previous provincial run on record, and he enters a crowded five-way race in a riding with no incumbent on the ballot. Surrey South went Conservative in 2024, when Brent Chapman took 13,056 votes (58.8 per cent) against the NDP’s Haroon Ghaffar at 9,136 (41.2 per cent). Chapman has since crossed the floor to OneBC and is not on the 2026 ballot, leaving McConnell to compete against the Conservatives’ Megan Knight, the NDP’s Parik Tahlan, CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko and an unaffiliated candidate for a seat that is wide open.
Advance voting in Surrey South runs October 16 to 21, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at Ta’talu Elementary School (all six days), Gracepoint Community Church (October 16 and October 19 to 21), and Pacific Heights Elementary School and Semiahmoo Trail Elementary School (October 17 and 18). The district electoral office is at N116-15850 26 Avenue. General voting day is Saturday, October 24.
Photo: Bill McConnell campaign (bcgreens.ca)
Sources: bcgreens.ca; Elections BC; StudioX News; Wikipedia (2024 results, Elections BC)
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