After two terms of being without a voice in government, the people of Cariboo North have put an end to that drought.
They elected Liberal candidate Coralee Oakes, ending the run of Independent Bob Simpson, who lost his bid for a third term.
Oakes, a fourth-generation resident of Quesnel, rallied enough support in her hometown to defeat two-term incumbent Simpson, one of four Independent candidates seeking re-election Tuesday.
Oakes gathered 5,459 votes, a 41.26 per cent majority, winning by 526 votes over Simpson, who had 4,933 votes for a 37.28 per cent share. NDP candidate Duncan Barnett had 2,840 votes for a 21.46 per cent share.
"I am so incredibly ecstatic that we have a majority government," said Oakes. "I am thrilled about that. The MLA piece, I'm still overwhelmed by that. I'm ready to start working and I'm ready to get out there."
Diversifying the economy is the top priority of Oakes.
"We need to make sure we have jobs for this riding, that our economy is secure," she said. "I have a lot of work to do to make sure we're attracting investment to this riding, that we're retaining families and we're presenting ourselves as a great place to raise families and we need to support our seniors."
Oakes will have help from Simpson in learning the ropes. The two made that arrangement before the election and Simpson phoned her Tuesday night to say he will live up to that obligation.
"Bob has been an outstanding representative for the last eight years and the fact he's offered to support me in transition just speaks volumes for who Bob is," said Oakes.
Simpson was one of four Independent incumbents seeking re-election, along with Vicki Huntington in Delta South, John van Dongen in Abbotsford South and Arthur Hadland in Peace River North.
Oakes, 41, has long been active in the tourism sector and with the Quesnel and District Chamber of Commerce.
"I am absolutely passionate about tourism and we have such a rich opportunity with the lakes and heritage and I'm extremely excited to see what I can do to support small business. I'm ready to start work tomorrow."
Cariboo North joined Prince George-Valemount, Prince George-Mackenzie and Nechako Lakes in the Liberal win column.
"I was at an economic development conference a few years ago where we outlined what it would look like to have a northern decade and tonight we just elected a northern decade," Oakes said
Cariboo North is centred in Quesnel, its largest city. It encompasses Tweedsmuir and Bowron Lakes provincial parks, Wells, and the northern outskirts of Williams Lake.
The history of the Cariboo North riding dates back to the boundary redistribution of the Cariboo-and Omenica ridings in late 1980s. Cariboo North was first contested in 1991, won that year by Frank Garden of the NDP. It fell into the Liberal hands of John Wilson for the next two elections until Simpson arrived on the scene.
