An emotional Linda Larson is congratulated by supporters as she takes in the news of her re-election victory. (Keith Lacey photo)
This story has been updated to include results that came in late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning after the Osoyoos Times went to press.
There are no shortcuts to hard work and that’s the biggest reason why the majority of voters across Boundary-Similkameen have returned her for another term as MLA, said an exuberant Linda Larson Tuesday night.
“I’ve worked very hard … and I would like to think that what I’ve done has been recognized,” said Larson, who was declared the winner of Boundary-Similkameen just after 9 p.m. by CBC News as she climbed to an early insurmountable lead over NDP candidate Colleen Ross, a Grand Forks city councillor.
“The people (in this riding) know me and they know I’ve worked very hard over the past four years and this has paid off for me.”
Preliminary results from Elections BC (95 of 95 polls reported) showed Larson received 9,174 votes, while Ross finished more than 2,000 votes back with a total of 6,941. Independent candidate Dr. Peter Entwistle finished a distant third with 3,028 votes, while Green Party candidate Vonnie Lavers finished a very respectable fourth with 2,145 votes.
Larson’s percentage of the vote, at 43.09 per cent, is just slightly lower than the 46.59 per cent she received in the last election in 2013. Ross’ percentage of 32.61 per cent is significantly lower than the 38.99 per cent received in 2013 by NDP candidate Sam Hancheroff. Green candidate Vonnie Lavers increased her party’s share to 10.08 per cent from 8.78 per cent in 2013. The final count including absentee ballots could change those percentages slightly.
In the province as a whole, a minority government is likely unless the results of write-in ballots and any recounts change the seat count which on Tuesday night gave the Liberals 43 seats, the NDP 41 seats and the Greens three seats. In a minority, the Greens would hold the balance of power. In one riding, Courtenay-Comox, the NDP candidate beat the Liberal by a mere nine votes. If absentee ballots tip the riding to the Liberals, the Liberals would hold 44 seats for the narrowest of majorities.
If current results hold, Premier Christy Clark would have the first shot at forming a government, but the combined seats of the NDP and Greens could make it short-lived.
While the crowd of Larson supporters was jubilant earlier in the evening, things quieted down when the provincial race to form the next government showed a dead heat between the Liberals and NDP in the closest race in B.C. election history.
With a crowd of roughly 70 supporters cheering her on at the Silver Sage Winery between Oliver and Osoyoos, Larson hugged dozens of supporters and raised a glass of wine after being declared the winner.
Larson admitted she was exhausted following a very long and exhaustive campaign that took her to all 18 communities in the Boundary-Similkameen riding.
“I’m tired … that’s how I’m feeling,” she said.
Larson said a top priority early in her second term would be ensuring that concerns over the level of service at the South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver are addressed.
She has met with the doctors who work in the Emergency Room at SOGH as well as top brass as Interior Health and she’s confident an agreement can be reached to improve the level of service and keep an adequate number of acute care beds at the hospital, she said.
“I live here (in Oliver) and I have grandchildren and children who live here and one daughter who works at the hospital,” she said.
She would continue working with the local healthcare community and IH management to ensure the level of healthcare provided at SOGH meets the needs of all residents of Oliver, Osoyoos and the surrounding area, she said.
When asked about the controversy surrounding the near closure of Osoyoos Secondary School last year, Larson said the province’s Rural Education Enhancement Fund (REEF) would continue if the Liberals formed the next government.
The Liberals provided just under $500,000 in funding through REEF to keep OSS open just days before it was scheduled to close.
Larson said funding for OSS “and all rural schools in B.C.” will continue through REEF and there will not be any closure of rural schools in the foreseeable future.
“It (OSS) is not going to be closed … it is long-term funding,” she stated emphatically.
There is a small, but vocal contingent of Osoyoos residents who have engaged in fear mongering about the future of OSS, she said, but she insisted the Liberals remain committed to providing funding for all rural schools in the province.
If the Liberals remain in power, Larson said she is determined to continue in her position as Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Education, a position created by Premier Christy Clark and the Liberals following the formation of REEF.
She is “about halfway” through preparing a detailed report about rural schools and providing adequate long-term funding and she would love to continue her work to complete that report, she said.
Larson, who is a former mayor and town councillor in Oliver, said being an MLA is often exhausting work, especially in a riding as large as Boundary-Similkameen, but she welcomes the challenge over the next four years.
“I’m very lucky to have a family that supports me and a husband (Larry) who holds down the fort at home,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to at least four more years of working hard for my constituents across this riding.”
At Medeci’s Gelateria in Oliver, the mood among a cluster of NDP volunteers and supporters was subdued through the evening.
From the earliest polls, it became clear that Ross was well behind Larson and the gap was growing.
At the same time, spirits were buoyed as provincial numbers tightened until ridings with NDP leading increased to match and sometimes overtake those the Liberals were leading in.
When Ross entered the room close to 10 p.m. it was to concede, but she began by expressing optimism about the provincial results, where the NDP was then leading by a single seat.
“The province is looking great, but people in our community have decided,” said Ross. “We fought a really good race, we poured so much love on the doorsteps every single day we knocked on doors.”
Ross, trying to contain her emotions, told of listening to heart-wrenching stories as she met people in the riding.
“There was more than one occasion after talking to people and hearing their suffering, their pain and their struggle that I had to stand on the curb for a minute or two and have a little cry as I went to knock on the next door,” she said.
Ross said the results showed many people in the province were looking for change.
“It’s just that people in the Boundary-Similkameen, maybe they’re just to ready yet for the kind of love we wanted to pour into their lives and the hope and the meaningful plan that we actually had,” she said.
Ross urged her supporters to go back to their communities and families and get involved in their communities, in municipal politics and in their schools.
“Grow some food, share the food, share a glass of wine and really just pour love on one another,” said the organic farmer.
She concluded with a brief message of congratulations to Larson.
Entwistle entered the race in early April after announcing he was stepping down after nine years as chief of staff at SOGH because he was disillusioned Interior Health and exhausted from working endless hours in the ER, while trying to run a successful family practice.
When asked for his reaction, the physician said he was “stunned” at how much support he received and was very grateful to the people who voted for him.
Entwistle acknowledged he entered the campaign late and didn’t have the resources that the major parties had access to.
“I was confident enough not to make a fool of myself,” he said. “In truth, I would have been foolish to think I could win.”
The physician said he hopes that his running made a difference in putting healthcare issues on the table.
“I think I sent a big enough message to Linda (Larson), so she has to take it seriously.”
Locally, Entwistle’s major concern continues to be understaffing of the acute care ward at SOGH and sustainable staffing of its emergency department.
Provincially, he believes a comprehensive health care strategy is needed.
Vonnie Lavers of the Green Party could not be reached for comment.
This story will be updated.
KEITH LACEY
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Colleen Ross concedes defeat and thanks her volunteers and supporters. She was buoyed by provincial results, even if results in Boundary-Similkameen were a disappointment for her. (Richard McGuire photo)
