Linda Hepner was elected on October 19, 2024 as the Conservative MLA for Surrey Serpentine River, a new riding, defeating the NDP's Baltej Singh Dhillon. She arrived in Victoria with one of the deepest municipal resumes in the legislature: her official biography says she spent more than two decades working for the City of Surrey, then served three terms as a city councillor before being elected mayor of Surrey in 2014, a job she held until 2018.
Her time as mayor left a mark on the region's files. She led the effort to move a large homeless population off 135A Street through a voluntary, case by case approach, and guided Surrey to become the first city in Canada to develop a coastal adaptation strategy. She also served as vice-chair of Metro Vancouver's Mayors' Council and as a TransLink director, chaired the Surrey Police Committee and the Innovation Boulevard Mental Health and Addictions Committee, and led a mayor's task force on gang reduction that secured $7 million in federal funding. Along the way she was named one of the province's Top 50 influencers, honoured as an honorary firefighter, and partnered with Simon Fraser University to establish a chair for mental health. A civic leadership bursary is awarded annually in her honour.
Her 2026 disclosure lists Municipal Pension Plan pension income plus CPP and RRIF withdrawals, consistent with a retired public servant. She came out of retirement to run provincially, saying she saw a need for common sense policies and wanted young people and workers to stop leaving the province. In the legislature she was named the Official Opposition's critic for Environment and Parks in the June 2026 shadow cabinet.
News reports say she briefly resigned from the Conservative caucus in September 2026, citing a loss of confidence in leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, and returned to caucus days later after Findlay stepped down.
Update, October 7, 2026: Hepner is not seeking re-election in the October 24 vote. The Conservative candidate for Surrey-Serpentine River is Jessy Sahota.
For a riding named after the Serpentine River, where farmland, industry and new suburbs meet, that practical grounding in how a big city actually runs matters.
Editor's note: the legislature was dissolved on September 22, 2026 and a provincial election was called for October 24, 2026. Offices above reflect the 43rd Parliament.
This profile is part of Apna News' Candidates series, introducing the people who represent Surrey and its neighbouring communities. Apna News is Surrey's new multilingual news platform. If you spot something to correct or add, reach us at info@apnanews.ca.
Official links: Legislature disclosure
