Penticton Western News, January 23, 2013

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NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN

www.pentictonwesternnews.com

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news

Penticton man awaits sentence for obtaining sex from teen prostitute

VOL. 47 ISSUE 7

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Region sees spike in the number of flu cases

3 page

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013

entertainment Brody ready to sling Dirt at convention centre

15

sports Mogul skiers perform well at home during Timber Tour

SECOND CANDIDATE DROPS OUT OF RACE

NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN

Steve Kidd

Western News Staff

Mark Brett/Western News

HOOK, LINE AND SINKER — Summerland angler Dallas Bradner holds up this brook trout he caught while ice fishing on Yellow Lake. Fishing is especially good at this time of year and many local people take advantage of the opportunity for sport and sustenance. 3-PIECE STAINLESS STEEL SAUCEPAN SET WITH MATCHING LIDS • Rolled beaded edge • Set includes 0.8, 1 and 1.5 quart • Measuring marks on the inside of the saucepans for easy measuring Reg. 69.99 each

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The political landscape in the riding of Boundary-Similkameen has changed once again. In the latest twist to an ongoing story, the B.C. NDP announced Monday that, effective immediately, their candidate, Marji Basso, had resigned. B.C. NDP provincial secretary Jan O’Brien said she received a letter from Basso Sunday, stating the candidate was stepping down for personal reasons. Depending on how you count them, Basso’s resignation is the third for Boundary-Similkameen in the last week. On Jan. 14, MLA John Slater announced his resignation from the B.C. Liberal caucus, protesting the party’s refusal to endorse his candidacy for the upcoming spring provincial election. Slater announced that not only would he be sitting as an independent for the remainder of his term, he would also be running as an independent candidate in the next election, a decision he reversed Monday. Basso and Slater’s latest announcements also come just days after a mysterious blog post by political commentator Alex Tsakumis, who published a column last Thursday directed at both Slater and Basso, entitled “Please call me ASAP … I won’t wait past today.” Tsakumis claimed to have “exceedingly disturbing information” about Slater and Basso that would hand the riding to Linda Larson, the new Liberal candidate, if released. “The details of what I have are demonstrable proof that neither Basso nor Slater have the principled judgment to be in public life,” reads Tsakumis’ column, which requested both candidates call him before he decided to publish his information. In response to an email questioning her on the subject of the Tsakumis column, Basso simply replied: “Trying to straighten it out now, thanks.” For his part, Slater said Friday several factors had him rethinking his decision to stay in politics, though he did not include Tsakumis’ infor-

Basso

Slater

mation. “It’s been a brutal week. And you have to look at your health and your family and your friends and supporters,” he said. “I think I have done a really good job in my riding for the last four years, and we got a lot accomplished, but without that, for lack of a better word, support from Victoria, it’s going to be a lot more difficult.” Slater said he wasn’t sure that he wanted to face four months of questions in the build up to the election in May. “I am a little disillusioned, I don’t want to go through four months of garbage and rhetoric,” said Slater. “Life is too short, I am 61 next week and I am looking at it from John Slater’s perspective.” While the B.C. Liberal party would only say that they felt Slater had “personal issues” that would “impact his ability to represent the party,” rumours came to light that Slater had issues with alcohol, something that both he and the local riding president, Zach Poturica, denied. Tsakumis wouldn’t go on the record with what his information was, though he does say he has verified it and its release would have been damaging both personally and politically to the two candidates. He is, however, satisfied with the outcome, now that both Basso and Slater have resigned and he has no plans to release the information or continue with the story. “I think that is the right thing for both of them to do,” said Tsakumis. “It just demonstrates that they both care more about their families than they do about being in public life. I think that’s refreshing.”

See MLA - Page 8

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