The Liberals announced Monday that Carla Qualtrough will be their candidate for Delta in this October's federal election.
Qualtrough was acclaimed by party members in a riding association meeting last Sunday.
A legally blind Ladner resident who ran unsuccessfully on the Real Delta ticket for school board in last fall's municipal election, Qualtrough is a lawyer, human rights advocate and Paralympic medalist.
In a news release, Qualtrough says she put her name forward because she shares Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's belief in a Canada that protects freedoms and is governed openly, transparently and fairly.
"We have a lot of diversity in our riding," said Qualtrough. "We need an MP who understands how to pull together and strengthen Canada through our diversity. It is this diversity that fundamentally makes us Canadian."
Qualtrough has worked for both the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the B.C. Human Rights Council, and currently chairs the B.C. Minister's Council on Employment and Accessibility for Persons with a Disability.
Delta municipal councillor Bruce McDonald, the vice-president of the Delta Liberal riding association, said they are thrilled to have Qualtrough as their candidate.
"Carla knows how to inspire, mobilize and win. She has the skills, the experience and the passion that the people of Delta deserve in their MP."
He added that Qualtrough has worked in Ottawa for ministers and the Prime Minister's Office, and knows the job of an MP.
Qualtrough, the president of the Canadian Paralympic Committee during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic bid, said she also believes in the Liberal focus on supporting Canada's middle-class families.
"I support an economic plan that strategically invests in communities, child care, infrastructure, higher learning and advanced skills," she said.
She added that the families of Delta deserve a future where their children thrive, their homes are safe and their retirement plans are secure.
A Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient in 2012, she is also currently vice-chair of the Delta Gymnastics Society, a director of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and vice-president of the Americas Paralympic Committee.
She'll square off against Conservative incumbent Kerry-Lynne Findlay, the minister of national revenue who is seeking a second term.
The NDP has yet to select its candidate.
This fall's election will be contested on a new electoral map that sees Delta as its own federal riding. South Delta had long been part of Delta-Richmond East, while North Delta was grouped with the Newton area of Surrey.
