With Parliament in summer break, local federal Liberals are in full swing behind the scenes with the party headhunting prospects and candidates applying to take over where MP Blair Wilson left off. And the process is causing a few waves.
Liberal representation for the riding is still in upheaval since a scandal alleging former Liberal, now Independent, MP Wilson mismanaged campaign funding. When news of the story broke, Wilson resigned from the Liberal caucus. Squamish Mayor Ian Sutherland, who recently announced he would not seek another term as mayor, said he's been approached to represent the Liberals in the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding. He said he has yet to decide on the matter. However, with a trip to Ottawa slated for the near future, some locals are wondering whether Sutherland is on his way to connect with party insiders.
The suggestion is offensive, said Sutherland, since he's clearly stated he's going to Ottawa on official Squamish business with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, adding a council decision is sending him there. "The short answer is no," he said when asked whether he'll be investigating a potential seat in Parliament. "And frankly it is repugnant that they'd say that, because we've been working on this file for four years."
Sutherland also noted that he's not currently a member of the federal Liberal party.
Meanwhile, UBC professor Michael Byers recently declined an invitation to contest for the local Liberal candidacy.Byers said he seriously considered it, but it was Dion's recent environmental "green shift" plan that caused Byers to run instead to the NDP in the Vancouver Centre riding.
"The idea of imposing an additional tax on fuels at a time when the market has already imposed $350 a tonne of additional cost on carbon - I'm very concerned about issues of social justice and poverty, and it struck me as a policy that wasn't appropriate for the current pressures that face Canadians," he said.
Byers decided to run for the NDP's Vancouver Centre seat, which pits him against formidable Liberal MP Hedy Fry.
Ken Halliday, president of the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country Liberal Riding Association, said on July 7 "several" would-be candidates have taken out application forms, which is the first step for potential candidates to take.
"I can't tell you any names because that's a confidential matter, but people have to be greenlighted first, and after that they have to decide whether or not they want to run it's up to those people to announce that they're running," he said.
