Prince George-North Cariboo MLA Coralee Oakes sought re-election as an independent in the wake of the BC United party suspending its campaign during the most recent BC election.
Sheldon Clare, the Conservative Party of BC candidate, took the riding with 11,262 votes, representing 57.1 per cent while Oakes, who was expecting about 29 per cent, was sitting at 21.8 per cent with 4,296 votes at the time of a telephone conversation with The Citizen.
“We knew going into this independents were going to have difficult time,” Oakes said from Quesnel. “We’re not naïve.”
The team made the decision to give people a choice, something Oakes said they deserved.
“We took that approach every single day. We worked hard. We had fun and we got out and enjoyed the communities that we love.”
Oakes said she would like to offer Clare her congratulations and wish him well.
“And I would like to say that I am really proud of the efforts made by my team. We worked hard, we put forth good ideas, and I have no regrets.”
Looking back at the almost two decades Oakes has been in elected office, between local government and as an MLA, she said there’s one thing that stands out for her.
“And that’s the connection I have had with the people,” Oakes said. “That’s what I am going to take away. It has been a privilege and honour to serve and I am kind of looking forward to going into the private sector and having some new experiences and the second piece is I’ve always been a strong volunteer – it’s something that fills my soul and I haven’t had a lot of time to do that as an MLA. There are so many worthy organizations that I feel passionate about and I look forward to getting more involved.”
Oakes said her service has come full circle.
“Tonight we celebrated our volunteers at the location where I ran my first campaign when I was 20, at the Billy Barker Hotel,” Oakes said. “So lots of good people were celebrated.”
