Updated 10:24 a.m. Sept. 22, 2020
Dale Boyd
Local Journalism Initiative
The BC Liberals are appointing sitting Oliver town Coun. Petra Veintimilla to run in the Boundary-Similkameen — making her the first official candidate on the ballot in the riding in the short election campaign.
Veintimilla, in her second term as town councillor, was announced as the selection to run in a press release from the BC Liberals Tuesday morning which unveiled 19 candidates across the province.
Her reaction to a whirlwind 24 hours was one word: “Wow.”
“I’m excited for the opportunity that’s in front of me. I think the way things have unfolded, they unfolded really quickly. I had my mind wrapped around a 2020/21 election and I had been thinking about that for a while and looking towards that, and expressed my interest to the party some time ago,” Veintimilla said. “But the way things have unfolded didn’t allow for the process I had in my mind. Nominations for sure would have been the way to go.”
Due to the short timeline in the less-than-five-week campaign, both BC Liberals and NDP are forgoing much of the typical nomination process and appointing candidates to fill vacant ridings.
“You can’t disagree with the fact that the competitive process helps with engagement in the riding and it totally would have been the preferred option, but as people have been saying with a snap election called in the middle of a pandemic, there is not much time for that process,” Veintimilla said. “So here we are.”
Admitting she has only had a few short hours to wrap her head around the nomination, her message to voters is ensuring communities in the Boundary-Similkameen riding are vibrant, growing and making sure local voices are heard in Victoria.
“I think I’m the person for that job. I’m going to work really hard over the next very short campaign period to get that message out there and to engage with the public and to see what people’s local issues are and to move forward in that way,” Veintimilla said.
She was drawn to the BC Liberals as a coalition due to their focus on free enterprise, she said.
“I think they are open and they bring all sides into and under the umbrella, so I like that there is room for all,” Veintimilla said.
With an ongoing pandemic only one of many issues facing British Columbians every day, the upcoming election is the most important in her lifetime, Veintimilla said.
“We’ve got lots of issues facing us, we’re facing a pandemic, a huge looming economic crisis, jobs affordability addictions and I think we need a new generation of leaders to see us through these crises facing us,” Veintimilla said.
She is running for the seat left vacant by incumbent Liberal MLA Linda Larson, who announced her retirement from politics last year. Former Oliver Mayor Ron Hovanes had expressed interest in the nomination Monday.
Veintimilla was the president of the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce for two years and also sits on the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) board and is chair of the regional hospital district.
A contested nomination process has neither NDP hopeful publicly announcing yet, said BC NDP press secretary James Smith Monday.
