Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

BC ELECTION 2020

BC Election riding profile: Fraser-Nicola

Oct 20, 2020 | 5:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — Created in 2008 as a result of the Electoral Districts Act, the Fraser-Nicola riding was first contested in the 2009 election, when Harry Lali won the seat for the BC NDP. In 2013, Jackie Tegart defeated Lali and flipped the seat in favour of the BC Liberal Party, then defended her incumbency in the 2017 provincial election by 524 votes. In the 2020 election, there are five candidates running in the riding — including two Independents.

Stretching from north of 70 Mile House, all the way to the US border in the south, as far east as the Shuswap Regional District, all the way to the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District in the west, the Fraser-Nicola riding is a large geographic area with a diverse population — a fact two-time BC Liberal MLA Jackie Tegart knows all too well.

“It’s a huge area,” Tegart explains. “Lots of diverse and interesting communities and we’ve been to most of them.”

For Tegart, the biggest issue in the 2020 B.C. election is how the region will bounce back economically from the OCVID-19 pandemic. She suggests the NDP government didn’t do enough to support the natural resource industries, like mining and forestry, that are the backbone of the region’s economy.

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“The lack of support for natural resources has really been felt,” Tegart says. “Very much a sense that the BC NDP don’t know there is life above Hope.”

Tegart is an Ashcroft resident. Down Highway 97C in Merritt, two more candidates call the Nicola Valley home. One of those, Independent Mike Banghu, has four priorities his campaign is focusing on.

“I strongly feel our communities are regressing. They’re not progressing and they need our help and healing,” Banghu says. “The four areas I’d like to focus on are the family, the retiree, small business and mental health and addictions concerns. I strongly feel that if we can improve those areas, we can improve our communities.”

The BC NDP candidate for the riding is hoping time spent as chief and councillor for the Lower Nicola Indian Band can help vault him to the top of the polls come Saturday’s election. Aaron Sumexheltza wants to improve health care in the Fraser-Nicola riding if he’s elected.

“COVID-19 is going to be with us for a while yet, into the future,” Sumexheltza says. “It’s about taking care of our people, taking care of seniors and our families. The BC NDP and John Horgan are committed to health care, so that’s what we’re focusing on.”

Dennis Adamson was the Vice-President of the Fraser-Nicola NDP riding association before this election. He’s worked as an area director for the Fraser Valley Regional District in Yale and is running as an independent in this election.

“The NDP and the Greens are worried more about the urban [areas]. There’s nobody really fighting for a small-town, rural BC,” Adamson told CFJC Today in a Zoom interview. “I want to do that for Fraser-Nicola. I want to be the one that fights for them and I hope on Election Day that they vote for me.”

The BC Green Party candidate is Jonah Timms, who has worked for the Ministry of Forests as a First Nations Advisor. He’s hoping to parlay that experience into a seat in the Legislature.

“We just need to get out our message and convince some people the Greens have the best interest of the riding and of the province in mind,” Timms says. “We’re a party that listens to experts and scientists, and certainly that means listening to stakeholders, First Nations communities and governments experts on forestry and mining.”

The residents of Fraser-Nicola, along with the rest of BC, will have their say this Saturday.