Byelection to be held in February, premier says in West Kelowna
NDP acclaims Shelley Cook for by-election against BC Liberal Ben Stewart
A by-election to fill the legislative seat vacated by the resignation of Christy Clark will be held in February, NDP Premier John Horgan says.
“We’re going to call the by-election in early January so that we can have a member for Kelowna West to debate the budget, which will be introduced in February,” Horgan told reporters after addressing about 70 NDP supporters at a meeting in Westbank.
Although the NDP finished 30 points behind Clark in the May general election, Horgan said he was optimistic the party would make breakthrough in what has been a bastion of small-C conservative support.
“Now we have an NDP government that the public, the people of Kelowna and British Columbia, are looking at for the first time and they’re giving pretty favourable reviews,” Horgan said.
The NDP candidate is once again Shelley Cook, who ran against Clark last spring.
“I’m going to be campaigning with Shelley in Kelowna because I believe this is a unique opportunity to demonstrate to the people of Kelowna and the Okanagan that it’s not just Liberals that deserve the right and the opportunity to be their representative in Victoria,” Horgan said.
The Liberals have long taken the support of Okanagan residents for granted, Horgan said, which is why Clark was parachuted into the riding after losing her own Vancouver seat in the 2013 election.
“The Liberals approach to Kelowna West is a place for them to comfortably reside, rather than a place for them to represent,” Horgan said.
“My message to the people of Kelowna West in January/February is going to be, ‘Do you want to have someone who will sit in government and work for you, or do you want to have someone in opposition who will criticize the government?”
The NDP did not suggest to the Greens, their partner in government, that they not run a candidate in Kelowna West to help Cook to victory, Horgan said.
“It was never raised because I didn’t think it was realistic to do that,” he said. “(Party leader Andrew Weaver) and the Greens are separate from the government and they make every effort to ensure that’s the case.”
In the by-election, the Liberals will be represented by Ben Stewart, a winery owner who held the seat before stepping down to make way for Clark in a July 2013 by-election.
Subsequently, Stewart received a government post in China to promote economic development between that country and B.C. Asked to comment on the job done by Stewart in that capacity, Horgan declined to comment.
“I believe that the notion of giving up your seat and then getting a patronage appointment, I think for many was quite unseemly,” Horgan said. “But again, it’s part and parcel of a group of people who thought they could trade off representation.
“I know Ben. He’s a decent man. I don’t have anything critical to say about his character, but I can’t really comment on his job performance. I know that it was fleeting. He was sometimes in China, sometimes in the Okanagan, that’s about all I can say,” Horgan said.