KAMLOOPS — Christy Clark spent her last few hours as premier at the Emergency Reception Centre in Kamloops.
Clark met with evacuees and volunteers outside the Sandman Centre in Kamloops this morning.
The former premier says people continue to tell her how grateful they are for the help they have received in Kamloops.
“When I got here a lady from Williams Lake, I think she’s 80, said to me, ‘I have been treated like royalty,’ Clark said. “Now, it hasn’t been perfect, but I think everybody here knows how hard everybody’s working. There are lots of tears, lots of people scared, people who can’t find their animals, their lifelong pets. I don’t think you can understand what it’s like to be evacuated unless you have been evacuated.”
With NDP leader John Horgan taking on the role of premier in the middle of a province-wide state of emergency, Clark hopes the new government will double the $100 million fund for evacuees and communities affected by the wildfires, a fund which was one of her last financial committments as premier.
“I think that they should double the fund,” Clark said. “I hope that they double the fund that we’ve set aside. It’s $100 million. I think it’s going to need to be bigger given the severity of this, and we are going to have to make sure that we are there to support people when they get home. It’s going to be difficult for people to find their way home, and get set up again, and rebuild their lives.”
