ROTHENBURGER: Parties complete their slates; let the campaign begin

Friedman had to catch up by sending out the media release a few hours before the official announcement instead of afterward.

The same thing happened with Sadie Hunter’s candidacy in Kamloops-North Thompson. A local media advisory set up an announcement, which was followed by the provincial office letting the cat out of the bag, which was followed by an anti-climactic news conference.

So, on this pleasant morning in the park, Bill Roberts, president of the riding association, steps up to the microphone and, in a barely audible voice, introduces Thomas.

Thomas was asked three weeks ago to consider becoming the NDP candidate, but didn’t decide until last Sunday to go for it.

That hasn’t given her much chance to bone up on the party platform, so she doesn’t have much to say in declaring her candidacy. Friedman asks reporters not to ask her more than one question each, explaining she’ll have more to say later, presumably after she’s more familiar with the issues.

Thomas carries some good credentials from involvement with the B.C. Native Women’s Association and the Native Women’s Association of Canada as well as other aboriginal agencies. And it’s good to have women contesting both ridings.

But what chance does Thomas have against incumbent Liberal MLA Todd Stone? And what chance, for that matter, does Hunter have against incumbent Peter Milobar in Kamloops-North Thompson?

Though Thomas and Hunter are quality candidates, the answer is, not much. Thomas has no name recognition; Hunter has only a little more after a couple of years on Kamloops City council.

But that, of course, ignores the fact candidates have only a small effect on the outcome. For the most part they ride into office on the popularity of their leader and their party. Most of the election will be decided by John Horgan and Andrew Wilkinson.

Still, in a close race a popular candidate can put things over the top. Neither Thomas nor Hunter has the name recognition to make that likely in Kamloops. Barring something dramatic, Stone and Milobar stand to retain their seats. Yet it’s also true that little-known candidates often win based on provincial results.

Hunter is an interesting choice to go up against Milobar. She’s been a quiet City councillor, and you’d be hard pressed to find her name in a headline, but she’s thoughtful and articulate.

And she at least lives in the riding. As a resident of Sun Rivers, she doesn’t live in the city she’s a councillor for, but she is within the Kamloops-North Thompson riding. So that part is an improvement over the last election when not a single candidate in the riding actually lived there. Milobar still doesn’t.

Most of the attention around Hunter’s candidacy revolves on the fact she’s a serving City councillor while running for provincial office, and that she was elected only last week to the executive of the Union of B.C. Municipalities.

It’s not a big deal except for the possible cost and inconvenience of a by-election if she should pull off a provincial win. She’d have to resign from council. UBCM would simply fill the slot she hasn’t yet been active in, and the City would need to call a by-election for her council seat.

That would cost the taxpayers somewhere between $35,000 and $50,000.

When Milobar left City Hall, there were calls for him to pay the cost of the resulting by-election but he refused, and it’s safe to say Hunter would do the same.

And while we’d like to think our politicians are committed to doing a particular job for a particular constituency of the public, in reality they’re committed just as much to politics itself as they are to a particular political job.

So when an opportunity comes up elsewhere, they often take it. Terry Lake made the switch, as did Milobar. Nothing wrong with that. The difference between them and Hunter is that Hunter is not likely to be the next MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson (even though it’s regarded as a tighter race than Kamloops South), making all the concerns academic.

Let’s not forget the Greens. Dan Hines, who ran three years ago against Milobar, this time will take on Stone. (He lives in Kamloops-South Thompson.) He’s well-known around town as a pastor and advocate on social issues, and while he’s unlikely to win or even come second, he’ll represent the party well.

In Kamloops North, the party’s candidate is forestry worker Thomas Martin, announced earlier in the week. He and Hines are placeholder candidates, making sure voters at least know there’s a Green party.

The slates are rounded out with Dennis Giesbrecht of the BC Conservatives, and independent Brandon Russell, in Milobar’s riding.

So, let the campaign begin.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: Parties complete their slates; let the campaign begin

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