BC NDP candidate for MLA in North Island, a district the Conservative Party won in 2024 by 639 votes.
Sara Lopez is the BC NDP candidate in North Island, on Elections BC's list of accepted nominations. The district's MLA is Anna Kindy of the Conservative Party, who won it in 2024 over the BC NDP's Michele Babchuk. Lopez was not on the 2024 ballot. Her campaign page says she lives in Campbell River, led the Campbell River Art Gallery and now works with Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North. She holds no elected office on record, and voche.me found no platform of her own beyond the party's.
A record of what voche.me could verify about Sara Lopez's 2026 candidacy in North Island. She holds no elected office on record, so there is no legislature record to review. The record holds her campaign page, news reports about her candidacy and about the Campbell River Art Gallery and Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North, and the party's platform.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Sara Lopez
Elections BC lists Sara Lopez as the BC NDP candidate in North Island. The Campbell River Mirror reported her candidacy on October 1, 2026, in an article the Mirror credits as contributed. It describes the district as including Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Campbell River, Gold River and the area south to the Comox Valley. Two other candidates are on the Elections BC list for the district: Anna Kindy for the Conservative Party and Richard Lambert as an independent.
Her campaign page says she has lived in Campbell River for more than a decade and that her career has been in nonprofits, arts and culture, social justice and community service. The page says she was executive director of the Campbell River Art Gallery and now works with Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North. The Mirror reported in 2020 that the gallery named a Sara Lopez Assu as its executive director. In 2025 and 2026 it quoted a Sara Lopez as communications and fundraising director of Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North. No page voche.me read uses the ballot name for the gallery's executive director, so these reports are linked to her through the campaign's own description of her jobs.
In September 2023, Campbell River city council removed the gallery's exemption from city property tax, after Councillor Ron Kerr called the gallery a "poor neighbour". The Mirror quoted the gallery's executive director, Sara Lopez Assu, asking supporters to write to council. On October 12, 2023 council kept the gallery's exemption removed and committed to look for a solution, and on May 9, 2024 it voted to pay the gallery's 2024 property taxes from its contingency fund. The campaign page says she "fought back with broad community support and winning that fight". The Mirror reports the gallery's tax exemption itself stayed removed.
In 2024, Anna Kindy won North Island for the Conservative Party with 14,100 votes (47.07 percent). Michele Babchuk of the BC NDP, the sitting member, had 13,461 votes (44.93 percent) and Nic Dedeluk of the BC Green Party had 2,397 (8.00 percent), according to the Elections BC statement of votes. Lopez is not on that ballot.
voche.me has not contacted the campaign. Her page on the BC NDP site repeats the party's message that the BC NDP has a plan to create jobs, strengthen health care and make life more affordable. No platform written by her was found.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
4 commitments shown · Checked Oct 3
2026 · HousingCampaign pledge
BC NDP housing plan
The BC NDP platform page says David Eby's housing plan is bringing housing costs down, and that 97 percent of local governments have adopted zoning changes that pave the way for 300,000 more homes. The page does not name Lopez.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. The page does not name Lopez, and voche.me found no statement by her on provincial housing policy in 2026. Her campaign page says only that she advocates for affordable housing.
What still needs checking
Does Lopez say what housing she wants in North Island communities during the campaign?
The BC NDP platform page says "Let's keep recruiting and training more doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers of all kinds", and lists 24 new and expanded hospitals and 48 urgent primary care centres. The page does not name Lopez.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. The page does not name Lopez, and voche.me found no statement by her on health care beyond the party's announcement quote about strong health care.
What still needs checking
Does Lopez speak on hospitals and doctors in North Island during the campaign?
The BC NDP platform page lists lower ICBC rates (a $500 cut, then a freeze on basic premiums for 7 years), a renter's tax credit of up to $400 and half-price child care on average. The page does not name Lopez.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. The page does not name Lopez, and voche.me found no statement by her on the cost of living beyond the party's announcement quote about an affordable life.
What still needs checking
Does Lopez say which cost measures matter most in North Island?
The BC NDP platform page says the party is working to open new markets for B.C. products beyond the United States, with export figures it gives for this year. The page does not name Lopez.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. The page does not name Lopez, and voche.me found no statement by her on jobs beyond the party's announcement quote about good jobs.
What still needs checking
Does Lopez name jobs or projects in North Island during the campaign?
No elected or appointed public office is on record for her. Her public record is her work for two nonprofit organizations, as reported by the Campbell River Mirror.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
Recent appearances / Read and watch
Talks, interviews & statements
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Statement
Statement in the party's candidate announcement
The Campbell River Mirror quotes her in the BC NDP announcement saying North Island families deserve good jobs, strong healthcare and a fair shot at an affordable life, and that she is ready to stand up for the people of North Island. The quote is general and carries no dated commitment.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
News coverage / Original publishers
Read the reporting
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
CHEK News
All Vancouver Island candidates for the 2026 B.C. election
Lists her under North Island with Anna Kindy and Richard Lambert. Describes her as a longtime Campbell River resident, a former executive director of the Campbell River Art Gallery and a current Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North staff member. The bios on the list draw on party websites.
Sara Lopez announces provincial candidacy for BC NDP in North Island
Reports her candidacy and quotes the party's announcement. The Mirror credits the article as contributed, so its description of her background is the party's.
Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North raises over $55K
Quotes a Sara Lopez, named as communications and fundraising director of Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North, on a matching campaign that raised $55,631.
Quotes a Sara Lopez, named as communications and fundraising director at Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North, on a $100,000 donation from Coastal Community Credit Union.
Reports that council voted on May 9, 2024 to pay the gallery's 2024 property taxes from its contingency fund, after a staff report said relations had improved. Quotes the gallery's executive director, Sara Lopez Assu.
Reports a gallery statement signed by executive director Sara Lopez Assu. It says the gallery did not receive its exemption, that council committed to look for a solution, and that city support makes up 23 percent of the gallery's budget ($148,000).
Campbell River backs away from pulling art gallery tax support
Reports that on October 12, 2023 council restored other groups' exemptions, kept the gallery's exemption removed and committed to work with the gallery. Quotes executive director Sara Lopez Assu, who said nearly 400 letters had been sent to council.
Art gallery tax exemption hit; called poor neighbour
Reports the September 28, 2023 council vote that removed the gallery's exemption on a motion from Councillor Ron Kerr, with Councillors Tanille Johnston and Sinnott opposed. Quotes executive director Sara Lopez Assu on the financial impact.
Sources checked October 3, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
No page read uses the ballot name Sara Lopez for the executive director of the Campbell River Art Gallery. The Mirror's 2020 to 2024 reports call that person Sara Lopez Assu, and its 2025 and 2026 Habitat reports call a Sara Lopez communications and fundraising director. The campaign page and CHEK News's candidate list (which draws on party material) give both jobs as hers, and nothing read contradicts that, but voche.me found no independent source that names the candidate as the person in those reports. The dates when she left the gallery and joined Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North were not found. Her earlier jobs described in the Mirror's 2020 article are not used here for the same reason. Her Instagram and Facebook pages showed only a sign-in page or a redirect, so nothing from them is used. The party's team page loads its names through a script, so a direct read shows no candidates, and none of the 12 releases on the party's releases page names her. The web search tool was out of its allowance, so the name search used Google News, the Campbell River Mirror's search and direct page reads. Bing and DuckDuckGo returned a challenge page or unrelated results. Campbell River city council minutes were not read, so the 2023 and 2024 council votes come from the Mirror's reports. No all-candidates meeting for North Island was found. Endorsements and campaign finances were not reviewed. The questionnaire has not been sent.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on 2026-10-03: the Elections BC candidate list and 2024 statement of votes, her campaign page on the BC NDP site, the BC NDP platform page and its releases page, the Campbell River Mirror's October 1 report and its earlier reports on the Campbell River Art Gallery and Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North, and CHEK News's list of Vancouver Island candidates.
Her Instagram and Facebook pages could not be read. The name search was limited: the web search tool was out of its allowance, so voche.me searched Google News, the Campbell River Mirror's own search and the party site directly. The party platform text is the party's, and the sections below say so wherever it appears. An empty section records what voche.me did not find on this date.
03 / Background
Experience & community
2026
BC NDP candidate, North Island
Listed by Elections BC as an accepted nomination for the October 24, 2026 election. She was not a candidate in the district in 2024.
The campaign page says she held this role. The Mirror reported on September 15, 2020 that the gallery named Sara Lopez Assu executive director, and quoted its executive director by that name through May 10, 2024.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
What would you do for North Island's hospitals and doctor shortages, and by when?
No response has been submitted.
What housing would you press the government to build in Campbell River, Port Hardy and the Comox Valley part of the district?
No response has been submitted.
Which parts of the BC NDP platform do you support, and where do you differ from it?
No response has been submitted.
Have your own question?
Ask Sara Lopez directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
05 / About this page
Questions about this page
Facts voche.me can state about Sara Lopez's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Sara Lopez?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Sara Lopez's own campaign.
What party is Sara Lopez running with?
Sara Lopez is running for MLA with BC NDP.
Does Sara Lopez currently hold public office?
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Sara Lopez.
How many sources does this Sara Lopez profile cite?
This profile lists 9 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Why do some questions on Sara Lopez's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Sara Lopez in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
When is the election Sara Lopez is running in?
The 2026 British Columbia election, including the MLA race, is decided on October 24, 2026.
06 / Candidate contributions
Space for campaign updates
No campaign updates yet
Announcements, event details and messages can be added here, with their source and publication date. No campaign submission has been added.
