New Democratic Party (NDP) members in the Powell River-Sunshine Coast riding have elected a candidate for the May 17, 2005 provincial election.
Nicholas Simons, who was the NDP candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast in the recent federal election, was nominated at a joint Powell River and Sechelt meeting on Sunday, Oct. 3.
"I'm feeling extremely excited," Simons said after he was nominated. "I'm excited for me, obviously, but mostly for the party and the province. The number of people who showed up for this meeting, the number of people who showed up in Sechelt this morning at nine o'clock on a Sunday, just shows that people are anxious for change."
Simons, who is the director of health and social development for the Sechelt Indian Band, added that people won't believe all the promises and gifts that will be coming from the B.C. Liberal government in the run-up to the election.
"They know what the Liberal government truly represents. We can't afford another minute of them, let alone another few years. I think people are going to be presented with a true alternative here."
NDP leader Carole James travelled to Powell River for the announcement, which was followed by a fund-raising dinner held at the Italian Hall.
She spoke at the event, calling Simons the next MLA from Powell River-Sunshine Coast and predicting the NDP would form the next B.C. government.
"Our province is at stake in this election," she said. "We have lost so much in the last three and a half years that if Gordon Campbell and the Liberals get a nod for a second term, I can't imagine what will be left of British Columbia."
She encouraged party members to work hard "to make sure that we have a province where the assets belong to all of us, where people can see hope in their own communities and where we bring back good, balanced, compassionate government to British Columbia once again."
The loudest and most sustained applause from the audience came, however, when James answered a question by a member of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers' Union about the NDP's plan for the Coastal Ferry Act, which revamped B.C. Ferries into a quasi-private company.
"When New Democrats are government, B.C. Ferries will once again be a Crown corporation," James said.
"I said that his services would no longer be needed."
Five other candidates vied for the NDP nomination, including Kathy Northrup, a social worker who was the only candidate from Powell River, Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk, Judith Wilson, a Gibsons lawyer and long-time NDP activist, University of British Columbia student Sam Heppell and Arnet Tuffs, a retired teacher who became an NDP member after campaigning for the Tommy Douglas campaign in the 1968 federal election.
Northrup said she was grateful to the people who supported her. "I have no regrets about running," she said. "It was a really great learning experience."
With the nomination over, it is time to start work on the election, Northrup added.
"We have a provincial election happening in less than eight months, and we're working on it as of today."
Jim Johnstone, president of the NDP constituency association, said it was a great day for the NDP.
"It just has such a good feeling to it," he said. "There's real excitement and interest from our membership and from people outside this constituency in this nomination race."
She's been asked what the NDP would do about David Hahn, president and chief executive officer of B.C. Ferries, James added.
