Over 40 people came to hear NDP candidate Roly Russell speak at Grand Forks’ City Park Thursday evening, Oct. 8.
“I’m excited for us to have a voice,” he told the crowd.
Russell joked that he wanted to be an MLA that would upset the status quo in Victoria.
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“We know here that forest stewardship certainly is a key issue,” he said.
“I think there’s been a lot of frustration with what the Liberals did to the forest sector in their 16 years [in government].”
Russell singled out BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson’s recent campaign pledge to privatize ICBC, saying Grand Forks’ experience of the 2018 freshet had shown that rural British Columbians can’t rely on private insurers.
“In this community, we understand how dangerous private insurance can be. In the aftermath of an event like the flood, that was one of the biggest issues that we were dealing with: Challenges with private insurers not delivering on behalf of their customers and clients.”
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The candidate said he would also focus on improving the riding’s access to primary healthcare providers.
To that point, a campaign official pointed out that their team had capped the event to under 50 people all of whom provided contact-tracing information as per the advice of Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
The NDP would not be door-knocking amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they confirmed.
Russell will join his opponents Petra Veintimilla (BC Liberals), Darryl Seres (Conservative) and Arlyn Greig (Wexit BC) at a digital all candidates meeting hosted by the Boundary Country Regional Chamber of Commerce at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.
The meeting will be streamed via Zoom, his campaign confirmed.
British Columbians go to the polls Saturday, Oct. 24.
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laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.ca
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