Thunderous applause broke out in the lobby of downtown Prince George’s Coast Hotel this afternoon (Tuesday), as Shirley Bond arrived to make one of her final appearances as the MLA for Prince George-Valemount.
It was announced last week by BC United Leader Kevin Falcon that the party would be suspending its campaign for the upcoming provincial election, with Falcon throwing his support behind John Rustad’s Conservatives.
“Rumors had started much earlier in the day, and I was already receiving texts from people saying ‘how are you doing, what’s happening,'” Bond said.
“I was completely unaware of what was going on, I was busy working and I received a call from Kevin Falcon telling me that he had decided to stand down the party in terms of an electoral campaign, and that he would be going forward publicly very shortly.”
Bond said she was shocked by the news.
“I was in my office, and you can imagine how it impacted my staff as well,” she explained.
“Decisions like that don’t just impact the elected person, they impact all of us, our donors, our supporters, our sponsors, our door knockers, and our staff, who I cherish, so it was a tough morning.”
Bond added she didn’t expect a call from the Conservatives to run in the riding, and if the call did come, she wouldn’t have changed her decision.
She also acknowledged that many people are asking her to run as an Independent.
“I have received calls, there are people who want to start a petition for me to run as an independent, I have received calls from other parties, and this really is a personal choice, a choice of my family and I,” Bond said.
“Running as an Independent is a tough thing to do, it may well hold significance in this legislature depending on what the electoral outcomes are.”
She noted she had grappled with running again in the first place.
“I was convinced to run again because of the need to have experience and leadership as part of the team here in the North, and so when I got the call last week, it was quite clear to me that it was time for me to make this decision,” Bond said.
Bond didn’t say who she was going to put her support behind to succeed her in the riding.
“I’m going to vote for who I think will represent Prince George-Valemount in the way that I described today, by being fierce, and speaking up, and stepping up,” she said.
“I have always described myself as a fiscal conservative with a social conscience, I think people are pretty clear about where I stand on the political spectrum, but I’m also going to ask those hard questions. “Where does the North stand, what is your view in terms of UHNBC, what are we going to do about the significant challenges in our city,” all of those things matter to me. I will, like every other voter, which is what I am now, will ask those questions, and certainly I do think we need an alternative to the current NDP Government.”
Bond said there’s still work to be done in her final few weeks as MLA, as she displayed the BC United “Build the Tower” sign.
“I intend to finish well, with many events and jobs to be done in the next few weeks,” she said.
“The work isn’t finished yet, and I will continue to work as hard as I possibly can.”
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