First let me thank you all. It is an incredible privilege to live in a country, province and region where I can knock on doors, talk to strangers, and no matter what political leaning, we can have a safe and respectful conversation. There are many areas in the world where this simple act cannot occur and is something that we should all feel proud about.
To Katerine Conroy, congratulations, you have my utmost respect. You and your family have been involved in the political process within this province for 24 years, I can only imagine the long days, the emotional ups and downs that is, working towards bettering your community and the area you call home. It takes fortitude and perseverance and you have shown in spades time and time again. May you have a successful term in office and continue to improve the lives in the Province of British Columbians.
To Ed and Fletcher, the independents in the election race: Wow — our communities are lucky to have you, the West Kootenays are lucky to have you. People who feel as passionately as you both do, to step into the ring and try to affect change is both incredibly brave, rare and admirable. If I may be so bold, I feel that we should all take a page from your books; we should discuss our political leanings more often, air them out, let our ideas breathe, see what ground these ideas have, even go as far as arguing against our political beliefs. Let’s not become politically trapped by our ideology and continue to grow and have wonderful and challenging conversations like Fletcher and Ed brought to the table. Thank you both.
To Glen, the Conservative Party is lucky to have people like you, pushing for more efficient forms of transportation and new ideas. You have my respect here trying to bring about change is always slow and yet here you are pushing for change. Well done.
And to Corbin the Liberal candidate from the beautiful city of Kamloops. Corbin is 19 years old and I simply could not imagine putting my name forward for politics at that age. I feel this shows a leadership, maturity and confidence that I am sure will serve Corbin well in the future. I look forward to hearing your name again in politics or whatever your path is, I am sure you will go far.
And to all everyone in the Kootenay West area, I thank you. You are all amazing and it would have been an honor and privilege to serve you all and continue to make this area we call home wonderful. The West Kootenays is a beautiful region from Arrow Park in the northwest to Fruitvale in the southeast and so I ask please remember that the government is voted in by the people and is meant to represent all people of British Columbia. You should feel heard, you should vote and if you feel you do not have anyone you wish to vote for you should run as an independent to effect meaningful change.
Andrew Duncan was a Green Party candidate for Kootenay West in the provincial election. The Rossland News gave all of the candidates an opportunity to provide a post-election statement, but some did not respond.