While provincial results were extremely close between the NDP and Conservatives, the vote was decisive in the three Prince George ridings in this year’s provincial election.
“I certainly want to extend my congratulations to Kiel Giddens, to Sheldon Clare, and of course Rosalyn Bird,” said outgoing Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond.
Bond doesn’t think these results were unexpected.
“I think that these ridings have always tended to be on the more conservative side and certainly have been held by the right-wing party for a long time,” she said.
“I think we saw some strong showings, particularly Clay Pountney when you think about the NDP and the percentage that he managed to garner in Prince George-Valemount, he came to the race late, but he did improve the numbers from the last election.”
One of the surprises from the election was BC Greens leader Sonia Furstenau losing in a new riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill.
“Sonia has been an effective MLA in the Legislature, she made the decision to change her riding, and obviously that did not work for her tonight,”
“The interesting part of this election from a provincial perspective is the fact that there will likely be two Green MLAs, it will not include the current leader, and those two brand new MLAs may well hold the balance of power in BC’s Legislature.”
Another thing Bond had her eyes on, but did not materialize was impact of the incumbent, independent MLA’s running.
“There was some speculation that that might change the outcome of this election, and it did not turn out to be the case,” she said.
“We saw Coralee Oakes go down to defeat in her riding (Prince George-North Cariboo). I know she’ll have much more to do, she’s very passionate about where she lives, a disappointing night for her, but certainly she has an excellent record of work as an MLA in the Legislature.”
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