Retiring Conservative MP Ed Fast endorses Independent Abbotsford-South Langley candidate [Video]

Abbotsford-South Langley candidate Mike de Jong, who is running as an Independent, has received an endorsement from retiring federal Conservative MP Ed Fast, who represented a riding in Abbotsford for more than 18 years.

Fast, who was first elected as the member of Parliament for Abbotsford in 2006, announced last year he would be stepping down from federal politics.

Shortly after, de Jong, who won eight terms in the B.C. legislature with B.C. United  — formerly known as the B.C. Liberal Party — and held cabinet posts, including finance and forestry, announced plans to seek the Conservative Party of Canada nomination for the newly-formed riding of Abbotsford-South Langley.

Early last month, de Jong was “informally advised” that he had been rejected as the Conservative candidate for the riding. The party instead chose Sukhman Gill, a 25-year-old Langley businessman who was raised on his parent’s blueberry farm in Langley, according to …