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Continued quest for political office has Dozie eying seat in Victoria

Maple Ridge man seeks to unseat current NDP MLA Bob D’Eith ahead of next provincial election
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Onyeka Dozie of Maple Ridge is seeking the BC Liberal party’s support to run as MLA for Maple Ridge-Mission in the next provincial election. (Special to Black Press Media)

A former Maple Ridge council contender and founder of the annual Afro Gala is looking for a nod from BC Liberals.

Onyeka Dozie wants to be the party’s MLA candidate in the Maple Ridge-Mission riding during the next provincial election, making his quest public earlier today.

He’s throwing his hat in the proverbial ring against current BCNDP MLA Bob D’Eith, who was elected in 2017.

“I feel honoured to announce that I am seeking the nomination,” said Dozie, who last ran for political office in the 2018 municipal election where he sought a council seat in Maple Ridge.

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“My decision to run was made following series of consultation with family and friends. From those discussions, I found an underlying need to address the persistent issues of homelessness, substance abuse, mental health, and affordable housing,” he said.

“The issues we face are many and strong, and so must be our solution to them. We need to work together to overcome them. To achieve this, we need someone with the ability to reach out to the next person and build a consensus around our common vision and hope for a better future. An honest person with integrity; strong, resilient, and experienced is needed for this job,” Dozie said, explaining his aspirations to be in Victoria.

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“Coming from a humble beginning, I have encountered most of these issues at one time or another,” Dozie said. He came to Canada from Nigeria in 2001 and in the last election was listed as a construction project manager.

“Through hard work and a good education system I was able to find solutions, which enabled me to have the opportunity to give back to my community.”

He promotes himself as someone who in favour of free enterprise, and believes support of small businesses and job creation will be essential to rebuilding after COVID-19.

There are no indications yet when the riding association will be holding its nomination meeting.

In the meantime, D’Eith already announced his intentions to run again, expecting the NDP riding association to be hosting its nomination meeting soon.

“I’d like to welcome them to the race,” D’Eith said of anyone wanting to run for MLA of the riding.

“I look forward to debating my BC Liberal opponent on the issues that matter to people in Maple Ridge and Mission. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, including opening a new urgent primary care centre, eliminating the tolls on the Golden Ears Bridge, and Highway 7 improvements.”

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Roxanne Hooper

About the Author: Roxanne Hooper

I began in the news industry at age 15, but honestly, I knew I wanted to be a community journalist even before that.
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