SURREY, B.C. - Christine Kinnie’s roots in Surrey-White Rock go back four generations. Her great-grandparents farmed in Ocean Park, in a house that is still standing. Her grandparents lived in White Rock for many years. She lives in South Surrey today, works as a Surrey School District secretary, and on October 24 she is asking her neighbours to send her to Victoria as the BC Green Party candidate.
Kinnie, described as a fourth-generation community member, says she sees families struggle firsthand through her work with the school district. It is not her first campaign: in the 2025 federal election she carried the Green Party of Canada banner in South Surrey-White Rock against Conservative Kerry-Lynne Findlay and Liberal Ernie Klassen.
Her priorities, laid out in local candidate questionnaires, start with affordable housing, fair taxation, healthcare and disability justice. On housing, Kinnie argues for rent-controlled and means-based social housing, “not policies that incentivize and subsidize private-sector developers and investors.” She says she will advocate for a fair tax system, and her campaign states that politics should serve people and planet, not profit, with a focus on sustainable futures.
Provincially, she is running on the BC Greens’ “Believe in Better” platform under leader Emily Lowan, built around a life people can afford, care they can count on, economic fairness for all and fighting for the future.
Kinnie has said choosing the Peninsula as her riding was a no-brainer given her family’s history there. In her 2025 federal run, the Green Party of Canada platform she campaigned on included a guaranteed livable income, universal childcare, expanded paid leave and electoral reform, themes that carry into her provincial priorities. The riding itself takes in the southwest corner of Surrey, the City of White Rock and the Semiahmoo First Nation reserve, bounded by Semiahmoo Bay, Highway 99 and 24th Avenue.
The electoral math is steep. Surrey-White Rock has returned centre-right MLAs for decades, and incumbent Conservative Trevor Halford won in 2024 with 14,667 votes (52.3 per cent) against the NDP’s Darryl Walker at 12,699 (45.3 per cent). Kinnie is one of six candidates on the 2026 ballot, in a field that also includes the NDP’s Walker, CentreBC’s Waqas Rana, OneBC’s Amanda James and independent Kevin Diakiw.
Advance voting in Surrey-White Rock runs October 16 to 21, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at Elk’s Lodge Hall 431 and Mt. Olive Lutheran Church (all six days), and at Bayridge Elementary School (October 16 to 18). The district electoral office is at 15165 Russell Avenue in White Rock. General voting day is Saturday, October 24.
Photo: Christine Kinnie campaign (bcgreens.ca)
Sources: bcgreens.ca; Peace Arch News; Elections BC; StudioX News; Wikipedia (2024 results, Elections BC)
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