By Jill Sperling

Terry Lake explains why he’s contemplating a return to politics

Mar 27, 2019 | 4:46 PM

KAMLOOPS — Terry Lake has worn many hats in politics, serving as city councillor, mayor, MLA, Environment Minister and Health Minister before bowing out of provincial politics in 2017.

Now, he’s considering a run at federal politics.

“When I retired from provincial politics I thought I was done and I’ve had a great opportunity to be away from it in a very exciting industry and a great job,” Lake said. “But, you know, people have approached me over the last year wondering if I would consider the federal liberal nomination. I mean, obviously in the last election it was very close and people think there’s a good opportunity in this riding.”

Lake is currently vice-president of corporate social responsibility for the Quebec-based cannabis company Hexo Corp.

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“If I do run, I would have to take a leave of absence in the fall from Hexo,” he said. “And, you know, go into the campaign and see what happens. Depending on the result, then that leave of absence could be extended or I might have to cut ties with the company. But, we’ll certainly cross that bridge when we come to it.”

The former health minister says he is still passionate about working on the opioid crisis in B.C., which is part of the reason he’s considering a return to politics.

“If I were to do this I could get that conversation going at the federal level where a lot of the important changes need to occur if we’re going to take a different approach to problematic drug use for instance and think about a Portugal style model where drug use is considered a health issue rather than a criminal issue.”

Conservative MP Cathy McLeod has already confirmed she will be running in the October election. Lake, who has worked with McLeod, says she would hope to run a campaign based on issues rather than personalities.

“I have nothing bad to say about Cathy,” Lake said, “I just believe that the party she represents is one that has a different vision for Canada than the Liberal party and the values that I have.”

Lake is in the process of collecting signatures for his nomination papers and says he expects to make up his mind about running within the next three weeks or so.