BC NDP leader John Horgan likes his party乌鸦传媒檚 chances in the Central Okanagan, despite its unsuccessful political record.
乌鸦传媒淭he candidate we have running (in Kelowna West) against our political vagabond premier, who ambled into town a few years ago, has deep roots in the community,乌鸦传媒� said Horgan at a Thursday morning town-hall meeting that had more members of the media in attendance than the public.
乌鸦传媒�(Shelley Cook) is well respected and well regarded and I am confident in her chances.乌鸦传媒�
He said he felt similarly about the other two Central Okanagan candidates who joined him.
Harwinder Sandhu, the candidate for the Kelowna Mission riding is a healthcare professional 乌鸦传媒渨ith a good understanding of the issues in the area,乌鸦传媒� he said.
Erik Olesen, the candidate for Kelowna Lake Country, is the party乌鸦传媒檚 乌鸦传媒測outh proxy (and) demonstrating that B.C. is a continuum of seniors and young people.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 very excited about our three candidates here and I乌鸦传媒檓 very excited about our prospects,乌鸦传媒� Horgan said.
The Central Okanagan has often been called the 乌鸦传媒渃radle of free enterprise乌鸦传媒� and the electorate has never sent a BC NDP member to Victoria.
When Clark lost her own riding of Vancouver Point-Grey in the July 2013 provincial election, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that she would head to valley and she did. During the Kelowna West by-election, she won with 62.8 per cent of votes. Her NDP competitor Carole Gordon was second, earning only 29.66 per cent of the vote.
Fellow BC Liberals, Steve Thompson in Kelowna Mission and Norm Letnick for Kelowna Lake Country each won their ridings during the election by 56 per cent.
That, said Horgan, doesn乌鸦传媒檛 mean there won乌鸦传媒檛 be change.
乌鸦传媒淚 come from Vancouver Island that has a rich tradition of electing social democratic,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚t becomes habit forming 乌鸦传媒� we had a discussion last night with people saying I always voted Socred or Liberal because my grandparents did, and the answer that Shelley offered was 乌鸦传媒榳hy don乌鸦传媒檛 you vote NDP for your kids or your grandkids?乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕
Changing entrenched behaviours, he said, will be the only way to bring needed improvements to the area.
乌鸦传媒淲hat did Einstein say? 乌鸦传媒業f you keep doing the same things over and over again you乌鸦传媒檙e going to get the same results,乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕 he said. 乌鸦传媒淚 believe the people of Kelowna are ready and willing to vote for people who are going to work for them.乌鸦传媒�
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Across every corner of B.C., he said, people are tired of a government that乌鸦传媒檚 ignoring and neglecting them.
乌鸦传媒淲e have candidates that are living, breathing examples of that and I know the people around this table and the people in Kelowna want to have someone that乌鸦传媒檚 going to roll up their sleeves and work for them, not just the people who go to the big fundraisers,乌鸦传媒� he said.
The brief morning event was a clear sign that the election campaign was well underway, despite the fact the writ had yet to be dropped. That was something Horgan didn乌鸦传媒檛 shy from.
乌鸦传媒淧eople said to me, 乌鸦传媒榳hy are you starting so early?乌鸦传媒� and I said 乌鸦传媒ξ谘淮綑Christy Clark only knows one speed and that乌鸦传媒檚 campaign speed,乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕 he said. 乌鸦传媒淪he hadn乌鸦传媒檛 been governing and she hasn乌鸦传媒檛 been taking care of issues that matter to the people. So, we rolled out a pretty sweet looking bus a couple of days early and all of a sudden this is revolutionary.乌鸦传媒�
Horgan said he intends to speak with the electorate in their own communities 乌鸦传媒渦napologetically.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e not going to run away and we乌鸦传媒檙e going to lay out a platform that speaks to the need of communities and I乌鸦传媒檓 excited about it,乌鸦传媒� he said.
When that platform will be released and in what fashion it may be distributed has yet to be revealed.
At the meeting, however, he focused his attention on seniors and families. Thousands of seniors are on wait lists for affordable housing, with waits for subsidized seniors housing taking longer than two years, he said.
He also said they have a plan to start $10 a day childcare. It乌鸦传媒檚 something, he said, that would help all seniors
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