Dear Editor,
First of all, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to all the very gracious and wonderful people in Ashcroft, Cache Creek, and Clinton who were part of the 2,336 people (16.04 per cent) in Fraser-Nicola who supported and voted for me in the provincial election. This is almost double the support we received in the 2013 election.
I would also like to send my congratulations to Jackie Tegart for her victory and the excellent campaign she ran. Though our policy positions are diametrically opposite, I believe that we both want what is best for the constituents of this riding, and offer her any assistance she may need to bring about positive change for the people of B.C.
I would also like to thank Mr. Henshall and Mr. Lali, and wish them both the very best for their futures.
I must, however, take exception to Mr. Lali’s comments blaming me for stealing votes from his campaign. This, of course, makes no sense, as it’s my electoral duty to do exactly that. It could easily be said that all three other candidates did the same to me.
It has also been proven time and time again that the B.C. Green Party, as its popularity grows, takes an equal amount of votes from all political parties, not just the NDP, as they would like the electorate to believe, to use as vote splitting propaganda.
I suspect that in the next provincial election, the Green vote will continue to grow, at both the expense of the NDP and the Liberals. We are not going away, no matter how much Mr. Lali and the NDP whine!
I would suggest to Mr. Lali that if he debated about what his party would look like moving forward, instead of how bad the Liberals were in retrospect, he may actually gain support instead of losing it.
In all six debates, and even in his advertising, a clear picture of his party moving forward was second, compared to bashing our Liberal counterpart.
If he had just stayed home and dilly-dallied, then the electorate might have elected Harry Lali.
Art Green
Hope