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OKANAGAN SUN defensive lineman Steven Doege wants to catch on full-time with the B.C. Lions this year.
COLUMNIST Maxine DeHart reports that the Kelowna Hyundai dealership is the recipient of a prestigious award for its sales performance.
ECOLOGIST tells conference it’s time to shut the doors on growth that continues to increase population density in the Okanagan.
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THURSDAY May 16, 2013 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
Capital spending wishlist costly Alistair Waters ASSISTANT EDITOR
INCUMBENT Liberal MLAs (from left) Steve Thomson, Kelowna-Mission, Norm Letnick, Kelowna-Lake Country, and Ben Stewart, Westside-Kelowna, celebrate their re-election and the provincial victory by their party, Tuesday night at the Coast Capri Hotel.
▼ ELECTION
Liberal wave swept over Central Okanagan ridings While the Liberals pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory to hold on to power in the B.C. election Tuesday night, what came as far less a surprise was the seemingly easy re-election of the Central Okanagan’s three incumbent Liberal MLAs Steve Thomson, Norm Letnick and Ben Stewart. The trio, first elected four years ago and who dubbed themselves Team Okanagan during their first term in the legislature because of their
close working relationship and their team approach to lobbying for provincial funding for local projects, easily held on to their seats. Late last night, preliminary numbers showed Stewart (Westside-Kelowna) garnered 59 per cent of the vote in his riding, Letnick (Kelowna-Lake Country) 57 per cent in his riding and Thomson (Kelowna-Mission) 55 per cent in his riding. While all incumbents were expected to win re-election given the historic support voters have always given right-of-
centre party candidates here, all three men said they took nothing for granted in the campaign. “It’s a privilege to serve and a privilege to be re-elected,” said Letnick. “I won the election by 5,000 votes (in 2009) but the day after, I felt like I was one vote behind. That’s how I ran in this campaign.” Stewart called Tuesday night’s election “incredible,” not only here but across the province. Thomson said he felt like a member of the Boston Bruins hockey team, which came back to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs
in overtime in game seven of their Stanley Cup first round playoff series on Monday after being down three goals in the third period. Earlier, Thomson, B.C.’s minster of forests, lands and natural resource operations, admitted he had a “nervous pit in his stomach” heading into election night. But he credited his campaign team in Kelowna-Mission with getting the vote out for him. Stewart, the province’s citizens’ services minister, said he, Letnick and Thomson all plan
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to pick up where they left off when the campaign started in terms of continuing to work for their constituents and the entire Central Okanagan. He called the campaign an opportunity to reconnect with constituents and hear their concerns directly at the doorstep. For Letnick, that means improving his own performance as an MLA after hearing some criticism during the campaign. “I’m a perfectionist and I always want to do better,” said Letnick. See Wave A19
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ALISTAIR WATERS/CAPITAL NEWS
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Kelowna is facing a big bill for all the infrastructure it wants to build over the next seven years. And while a little less than one-third of the estimated $523 million required will come from the taxes it will collect each year from property owners in the city, another $96 million will have to be borrowed. Even more will have to be come from other levels of government in the form of grants, as well as from partnerships and from developers. “The additional borrowing will add to the city’s debt,” admitted Joel Shaw, Kelowna’s assets and investment manager. Shaw laid out the 2013-2020 capital plan for city council Monday, revealing a list of 280 projects that the city wants to complete, including new buildings, parks, transportation and transit projects, solid waste programs and water and wastewater treatment projects. The big price tag caught the attention of councillors, some of whom were quick to point out that city’s appetite for spending appears bigger than its resources.
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