The mayor of Grand Forks and a longtime city councillor both think the city will fare well under Lorne Doerksen as premier.
Mayor Everett Baker, who was recently re-elected to a second term, told council this week that he was expecting a Conservative minority government, rather than a majority.
Last weekend he travelled to Kelowna with incumbent Boundary-Similkameen MLA Donegal Wilson and met with Doerksen, whom Baker has known for many years, dating back to when they were both involved with the BC Liberals.
“It was great to reconnect with him,” Baker said. “We said that we would have further conversations after the election. I reached out to him on election night, congratulated him and the party.”
The mayor said he wanted to make sure the city was “on good ground” with the incoming government, “and it looks like we are. So I’m pleased about that.”
Baker also contacted outgoing premier David Eby to thank him for all that the New Democrats have done for Grand Forks and wished him well. “I hope that we will remain friends well past his time in government,” he said.
Baker added that once a new cabinet is appointed, he wants to work with them on infrastructure, housing, forestry, and health care. He pointed to efforts to bring a CT scanner to Grand Forks. “These are key issues to Grand Forks and so I’ll be looking forward to addressing them with government when and if the opportunity arises,” Baker said.
Councillor Neil Krog said Grand Forks has “super strong ties with the NDP and I was supporting that through the election.” However, he feels the city is in a good position.
“When I look at anything provincial or federal, I always look at it from the city standpoint rather than my personal standpoint. I think as long as they keep Lorne, the City of Grand Forks is going to be okay as well as the Boundary. And we actually have matching representation [with] the sitting government.”
The last government MLA to represent the Boundary was Linda Larson, from 2013-17. Wilson was re-elected over the NDP’s Roly Russell.
