Longtime B.C. MLA and cabinet minister Mike de Jong running as independent [Video]

A longtime veteran of British Columbia provincial politics is entering the federal election race as an independent.

Mike de Jong announced Thursday that he would run in the new Abbotsford-South Langley riding.

De Jong served eight terms as an MLA under the BC Liberal/BC United banner, holding multiple cabinet portfolios including finance, attorney general, public safety and health.

He had been seeking the nomination for the Conservative Party of Canada, but says the party rejected his candidacy in early March without any formal reason.

“There clearly was a disagreement. The local Conservative association unanimously recommended that I be approved as a candidate, and unanimously recommended that the young man who is the candidate not be,” de Jong said.

“So why some backroom party hack in Ottawa decided to do the opposite is something only the Conservative party can answer, and so far they are refusing to.”

The Conservatives have nominated …