John Slater said he spent the past several weeks speaking to constituents from throughout the Boundary-Similkameen riding before making a final decision last week to run again to defend his seat in the provincial legislature.
“I went and visited people from throughout the riding over the last little while and most of them told me they liked the job I was doing and told me to keep up the good work,” said Slater, who officially filed his nomination papers with the provincial Liberal Party last week to formally announce his intentions to run again in next spring’s provincial election.
Slater has been the MLA for Boundary-Similkameen for more than three years.
Slater, who was the mayor of Osoyoos for six years and a member of the local town council for 18 years before venturing into provincial politics, said he decided to run again because he feels he has done a good job for more than three years and has much more to accomplish should he be elected again.
“I thought a lot about this because there’s a lot of stress and pressure, but there are still a lot of things I want to accomplish for the constituency across the riding,” he said. “I want to continue working to get things done for the residents of this part of the province.
“I hadn’t made up my mind until I visited the constituents from across the riding and talked to them face to face. Most of them told me they think I’m doing a good job so I’ve decided to keep on doing some good work for these people.”
The recent death of his beloved mother Pearl also affected him deeply and he didn’t want to make any rash decisions about his future political aspirations until he held a family ceremony for her a couple of weeks ago, said Slater.
Slater said he expects some very solid and worthy candidates to forward their names to oppose him  in the upcoming election.
The economy in British Columbia is starting to expand after some very lean years and he’s confident this will reverse the fortunes of the Liberal Party over the next few months heading into next spring’s election.
“There have been some tough economic times in this province and everybody tends to blame the government when that happens,” he said. “We realize that we need to convince the people of British Columbia that the Liberal Party is the only party capable of turning the economy around and keeping B.C. strong. I want to be a part of that.”
After 22 years in public service, Slater said he still possesses the energy and commitment he had when he first joined Town of Osoyoos council back in 1990.
The Boundary-Similkameen riding covers 18 communities, two school districts and two regional districts, which presents many challenges, but he’s loved his more than three years working as an MLA and is confident voters will ensure he has another term in office next spring, said Slater.
Slater was first elected to the provincial legislature in 2009 after serving two terms as mayor of Osoyoos and several terms as a town councillor. The majority of people he has talked to in Osoyoos have also been very supportive over the past several weeks, with many of them asking him to run again, he said.
Slater is currently touring the province as part of a finance committee that is meeting with community leaders and citizens to hear their concerns and answer their questions as the Liberals prepare another provincial budget.
While he has filed all of the necessary paperwork, Slater said his nomination won’t become official until the Liberal Party endorses his nomination and makes an official announcement in the next few days.
A provincial election must be called by the spring of 2013 as the current five-year term for the governing Liberals is set to expire.