Coralee Oakes is once again the MLA in Cariboo North.
Preliminary results, with the mail-in votes still to come in a couple of weeks, had Oakes out in front with
Scott Elliott of the NDP was next with or %, followed by BC Conservative candidate Kyle Townsend with and then Douglas Gook of the BC Green Party with .
Provincially, the NDP will form a majority government.
Oakes says it shows a growing urban-rural divide…
“When so much of the vote is concentrated in one area, being Metro Vancouver-Surrey-the Lower Mainland, it makes it more difficult for us to have our voices heard in the rural populations.  But I can guarantee that we will be loud and strongly advocating for the needs of this region because quite frankly, as we all know that, the province depends on what happens in our rural economies, when we look at the amount of wealth that’s generated and shipped down to the Lower Mainland to support the rest of the province.”
With the election over, Oakes says it’s time to get to work…
“We have to be laser focused going into the winter on what kind of supports can we be offering our seniors, especially those that are living at home or independently in apartments.  Are we making sure that we’re providing them the necessary supports such as flu shots, are they getting out, what is really happening on the ground.  An election perspective gives us a strong opportunity to get out and call and talk to lots of people.  And I can tell you what we heard on the phones and the amount of loss in our region was staggering.”
Oakes says several projects also can’t wait for mail-in ballots to be counted…
“We have tenders that need to go out for West Fraser Road, we need a cell tower to be out in Nazko, incredibly important public safety initiatives such as helping the people on Quesnel-Hydraulic Road and what that looks like.  And when we’re in caretaker mode as we have been in the last month, where everything just tends to slow down or there is a very strong inability to move significant projects forward, that has huge repercussions on our region.”
On her own success, Oakes of course wanted to thank the people that helped her, but she also applauded everyone that took part in this election…
“I think it’s really important to acknowledge and thank all of the volunteers that worked on all of the campaigns. I am so incredibly grateful for the team that stepped up for me. We had so many first time folks that volunteered who really never participated in a campaign process before, and I couldn’t be prouder. It was incredibly humbling to have their support, and that they worked so hard. But I can speak maybe on behalf of the other candidates too, to all of the volunteers, it was fantastic to see.  All our signs teams were helping each other.  It was different what was happening here on the ground in Cariboo North than what you saw in maybe some of the other ridings, and I am just very grateful.”
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