Liberal MLA candidate added to election race

Fraser-Nicola Liberal MLA candidate Jackie Tegart.

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The B.C. Liberal Party announced that Ashcroft’s Jackie Tegart will be the party’s candidate for Fraser-Nicola MLA in May’s provincial election.

Tegart, who is serving her third term as a councillor in the Village of Ashcroft, said she is excited about her first foray into provincial politics.

“I’ve always been very interested in provincial politics,” Tegart said. “I just feel that this coming election is so critically important to B.C.”

The former school trustee and president of the BC School Trustees Association said the main focus of her platform is on job creation, particularly in resource industries.

“I come from a mining family. My dad worked at a mine, my husband worked at Highland Valley Copper, and we know how important forestry, agriculture mining those kinds of issues are. We need a strong voice in Victoria.”

Tegart said a strong voice in the province’s capital is a pillar of her campaign.

“I think when decisions are made in Victoria, we need a very strong voice for people to understand what it means to those of us out here in the hinterland,” she said. “It’s about strong representation; it’s about staying on the path.”

Tegart will be formally nominated at the Central Cafe in Ashcroft on Saturday at 4 p.m. She said she plans to visit communities throughout the riding between the formal nomination and the May 14 election.

“I want to meet people who have questions, who have issues, who have a sense of where they’d like to see the province go, and I think it’s really important that we listen,” Tegart said. “I have a sense of the regional issues. I see beyond my borders. I’m hoping that with the experience I bring to the table that people will give me a chance to seriously consider a Liberal candidate for success in this riding.”

Fraser-Nicola’s current MLA, New Democrat Harry Lali, said the nomination won’t affect his campaign strategy once it becomes official on Jan. 26.

“Regardless of who it is the B.C. Liberals put up to run for them in Fraser-Nicola, the people of this constituency are fed up with Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals,” Lali said. “The Liberal candidate will also have to answer for the creation of the mess in health care and the downgrading of medical services in our communities — specifically, in her own backyard in Ashcroft.”

Lali was first elected as an MLA in 1991 and re-elected in 1996. He did not run in the 2001 election, but returned to provincial politics in 2005 with a win over Liberal Lloyd Forman. Lali was re-elected again in 2009.