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Meet your local candidates: seven vie for top two positions in local ridings

Seven candidates are running for Cariboo North and Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA.
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Seven candidates are running in the ridings of Cariboo North and Cariboo-Chilcotin in B.C.'s provincial election taking place May 9.

CARIBOO NORTH

Scott Elliott NDP

Quesnel city councillor Scott Elliott is the NDP’s candidate in Cariboo North.

An avid outdoorsman with a long history of community volunteering, Elliott said he understands what matters to people in the region.

“I’m listening and working hard for folks in the Cariboo,” Elliott said.

As a Quesnel city councillor, Elliott said he helped find the operational savings that made Quesnel’s budget sustainable while allowing for needed capital project re-investment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony Goulet B.C. Conservative

Quesnel school trustee Tony Goulet is the B.C. Conservative Party’s candidate for Cariboo North. Goulet is executive director of the Quesnel Tillicum Society (Friendship Centre) and president of the North Cariboo Metis Association based in Quesnel.

 

He also owns Goulet Enterprises Ltd., a business that has a contract to deliver bread in the Quesnel area. He also is active in the community and volunteers his time on many organizations and committees.

“I’m proud and honoured to represent the B.C. Conservatives as a party that puts honesty, integrity and service to constituents as its top priorities,” said Goulet.

 

 

 

Richard Jaques B.C. Green Party

Richard Jaques who ran for the Green Party during the federal election is now running for the B.C. Green Party in Cariboo North.

Jaques had a lengthy career in First Nations Community Policing and was a volunteer firefighter in both Fort St. James and Takla Landing before finally retiring in 2008 to pursue teaching full time.

“I believe our children are the future; we must strive to provide educational opportunities that will give them a solid foundation to make future decisions that will benefit generations to come,” said Jaques. “I am running in Cariboo North because I believe industry needs to be sustainable in order to provide for future generations.”

 

 

 

Coralee Oakes Liberal

Coralee Oakes was elected MLA for Cariboo North on May 14, 2013.

On July 30, 2015 she was appointed Minister of Small Business, Red-Tape Reduction and Minister Responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch. Previously, she served as Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.

Prior to her election, Oakes was a two-term Quesnel city councillor, and served as the executive director of the Quesnel and District Chamber of Commerce.

In 2007, she was appointed to the provincial Small Business Roundtable, representing rural small businesses, and was appointed to the Minister’s Council on Tourism in 2009.

 

 

CARIBOO-CHILCOTIN

 

Donna Barnett Liberal

Liberal candidate Donna Barnett is seeking a third term as MLA for the Cariboo-Chilcotin.

During her last term, Barnett was appointed Minister of State for Rural Economic Development for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

Barnett said she is running again because she believes the province needs to stay focused.

The Liberals are committed to rural schools, rural health, rural economic activity, mining, LNG, oil and gas, and have a big commitment to highways, Barnett said.

“In order to have a healthy environment, you have to have a healthy economy,” Barnett said.

Rita Giesbrecht Green Party

Green Party candidate Rita Giesbrecht lives at 108 Mile Ranch and has called the Cariboo home for the last 27 years.

In February, Green Party leader Andrew Weaver appointed her as the party’s spokesperson for rural development.

“I am dedicated to making sure that the rural community supports the full spectrum of our community,” Giebrecht said.

Giesbrecht has spent the last seven years doing agriculture advocacy and economic development through the South Cariboo Agriculture Enterprise Centre,  has worked with arts groups, social services delivery agencies and on the development of the Applied Sustainable Ranching Program at Thompson Rivers University in Williams Lake.

Sally Watson NDP

Cariboo-Chilcotin NDP candidate Sally Watson has lived in the 70 Mile House area since 1986.

She was elected to the Thompson Nicola Regional District in 2002 and has held the position ever since, is a director on the Northern Development Initiative Trust and a former board member of the Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition. Currently she is a mail carrier for Canada Post.

“I sincerely hope to bring the voice of the Cariboo-Chilcotin to the party and to the table,” Watson said, noting the main issues for the region are mining, lumber, health care and education.

“I feel the voice has been coming from Victoria to the area, rather than from the area to Victoria,” Watson said.



Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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