Coralee Oakes announced Thursday (Sept. 12) she will be running as an independent candidate in October's election. The Observer spoke with her Friday (Sept. 13) about going into her first election without a party behind her.
"Following the suspension of BC United, I've been listening closely to the concerns of the constituents and it has become abundantly clear that people felt that they didn't have a voting option without that centre moderate," Oakes said.
Oakes said she has discussed it with many people and she felt the best thing for her to do was put her name forward as an independent candidate. She said with her experience in the legislature as a cabinet minister, shadow cabinet minister and MLA for over a decade, she would be able to advocate effectively for Prince George-North Cariboo.
"The fact of having that experience, I'm confident I will be able to deliver on results for the people of the riding," she said.
After the 2017 election, a BC Liberal MLA stepped away from his party to become an independent speaker in a legislature with a tight margin. When asked if Oakes would consider that role should there be a similar scenario, she said the job of the speaker is tremendously important and "it would be a very interesting role to have," she said.
When asked if she had to make the deciding vote between propping up David Eby and the BC NDP or John Rustad and the BC Conservatives, Oakes didn't commit.
"We need change. We need a new, fresh set of eyes in government to move things forward," She said, adding fiscal management is one of her core values. "With that said, I think this is going to be a fascinating election and I think you're going to see a lot of fresh eyes."
Oakes said one of her top concerns she would take to Victoria as an independent MLA is healthcare. She said as a city councillor, she was part of meetings with doctors and representatives from each level of government to try to find ways to support additional health care workers to stay in the region.
She also highlighted infrastructure, saying Quesnel has long needed an inter-connector and said she would bring forward the petition to save the Quesnel-Hixon Road.
Independents inherently have fewer resources than full parties. In terms of databases with supporters, funding for campaign materials and an overall provincial message.
"Having a grassroots campaign provides greater flexibility," she said. "What I've heard repeatedly is a lot of times where we've got to in party politics has really made people feel disenfranchised. And the ability to vote for somebody who's 100 per cent focused on the constituency provides the ability for many people to vote for somebody that is going to be focused on their riding."
She said while she has complete respect for the other candidates and MLAs who have announced independent bids, she wants to be 100 per cent focused on the riding rather than work to create a new party or voting block.
"It's hard to say what will happen after this election but I think the main thing is people are focused on their riding," she said.
Oakes added that at the end of the day, she's proud to be able to offer people a choice in this election.
The election is slated to be held on Oct. 19. Randy Thompson is the BC Green party candidate and Sheldon Clare is the candidate for the BC Conservatives.
