One of two MLAs currently representing the Kamloops-area says the planned electoral boundary changes aren’t going to affect his political career or that of his colleague.
Current Kamloops South-Thompson MLA Todd Stone confirmed both he and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar do intend to run in the next election, which will be held on or before Oct. 19, 2024.
“Peter and I are good friends, we are good partners here in Victoria and we are going to continue to strongly advocate for the constituents that we represent today and those that we represent in the new ridings regardless of where we run,” Stone, a BC Liberal MLA said.
However, Stone admits that may not be the case for a lot of the current MLAs in the Legislature.
“We have colleagues in our caucus, and I know there are some out of the New Democrats too that are leaning towards not running. So there are those kinds of personal decisions that we are going to hear about increasingly in the weeks and months ahead,” Stone added.
“And yes, there are some communities and incumbent MLAs that are going to have to make decisions do I run in riding A or do I run in riding B.”
Under the proposed changes, Kamloops will still be represented by two MLAs – one in an urban Kamloops-Centre riding that encompassing the city’s “urban core” as well as the surrounding neighbourhoods of Aberdeen, Dufferin, the Thompson Rivers University precinct, North Kamloops, and Brocklehurst.
A redrawn Kamloops-North Thompson riding will now include the Kamloops neighbourhoods of Valleyview, Barnhartvale, Dallas, Batchelor Heights, Westsyde, Rayleigh, as well as a portion of Sahali.
It will also include the communities of Barriere, Clearwater and Sun Peaks from the current Kamloops North Thompson Riding, with Rosehill, Juniper, Valleyview, and Dallas neighbourhoods, as well as Pritchard, Chase, Monte Lake, and Westwold from the current Kamloops-South Thompson riding.
“We are figuring that out right now,” Stone said, when asked which riding he plans to run in.
“Bottom line is when you look at the populations and the neighbourhoods that are in Peter’s riding today and in my riding today, they kind of took the urban core out of his and urban core from mine and put it into a new one,” Stone added.
Speaking on the NL Morning News, Clearwater Mayor, Merlin Blackwell, who is pleased that his community will be in a Kamloops-focused riding, noted he is intrigued by the new Kamloops Centre riding.
“You have a very metro central riding and then now you also have a more rural oriented riding with Chase, Clearwater, Barriere, and then a smaller part of the Kamloops population. What is that going to look like?” Blackwell noted.
“Are you going to have a more left-leaning centre Kamloops riding and a more right-leaning rural riding? Is that going to split the politics even more than it has in the past?”
