RESULTS: Abbotsford 2021 by-election

Dave Sidhu won Abbotsford’s vacant council seat in a landslide. Sidhu claimed 43% of the vote in council in Saturday’s by-election. The by-election was held to replace Bruce Banman, who was elected as MLA last year. Banman held onto his seat into the spring, before he decided to resign, prompting September’s vote. (Banman, we reported in May, was paid about $16,000 by the City of Abbotsford while holding both offices.)

Sidhu becomes Abbotsford’s newest councillor

Sidhu is the general manager of The Patrika newspaper and had run for council three years ago, but fell just short, finishing ninth in a race for eight open council seats. While Sidhu ran as part of the AbbotsfordFirst slate in 2018, he ran as an independent in the by-election.

The by-election was the first to allow residents to vote with mail ballots. The Current reported yesterday that delays in delivering the ballots left some unable to vote in the election. Read that story here.