B.C. will host a provincial election on Oct. 24 and five candidates are currently in the running for the Mid Island – Pacific Rim riding’s seat. Scott Fraser has been the West Coast’s MLA for 15 years, but recently announced he would not be seeking re-election. In partnership with Black Press Media newspapers in the riding, the Westerly News has given each of the candidates an opportunity to introduce themselves to West Coast voters. Each candidate was given a 500-word limit to present themselves and their platforms. The following is the submission filed by Libertarian Party candidate Rob Clarke.
Rob Clarke - Libertarian Party
Hello, my name is Rob Clarke and I want you to give me and the BC Libertarian Party a chance to represent us in our legislature. Please take this opportunity to vote for freedom this Oct. 24.
My family has called the Alberni Valley home for four generations. I graduated high school and did two years of college. One for business administration and one for physical education. I completed a four-year rock crusher operator apprenticeship while working on the Mid Island highway to Campbell River. I have since trained as a welder and, for the past few years, I have been semi-retired, managing my investments.
With the recent economic turmoil, I found myself wanting to go back up North to the camps to make some cash. However, I require a ten-minute procedure to my eye before I can effectively weld again.
Naively, I thought I could get this ten-minute procedure done easily and quickly. Instead, I’m on a two-year-long wait list. Two years before I can go back to welding and paying tax.
In other countries, these procedures are performed on the same or the next day. Here in Canada, we must wait for two years. I want to know why this is, and to change it.
My schedule is wide open to serve as the Mid Island-Pacific Rim MLA and, when elected, I will put our region first when I vote in the legislature and I will utilize any and all influence that comes with being MLA to cater to our region’s needs and wants.
I am ready to give 100 percent focus on improving our region and repairing our freedoms and slowly and safely bringing things back to normal so we can all start living our lives freely again.
As I have simple needs, I will divide my salary as MLA in half—keeping half for my family’s living expenses. With the other half I will hire three or four politically-minded people in our region to report to me daily on the relevant happenings throughout our vast region.
I will take no other jobs while representing us as MLA. I will always work to restore and maintain our freedoms and give 100 percent to the job.
Every Saturday I will meet with citizens from our region, so that you may present your issues to me directly and so that I may work towards addressing them promptly.
We would like an oppurtunity to get the gates to our backcountry open again and to stop the oversize logs from being shipped down the Alberni Inlet. The other parties have had their chance—now we would like one.
Please feel free to check out the BC Libertarian Party website at www.libertarian.bc.ca to see all of our great ideas to bring you more freedom. Feel free to contact me directly if you would like to hear more about me or our party and our goals.
I look forward to representing you and to help bring freedom back to our region.
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