Stoddart-Hansen to run for Liberals

Sandra Stoddart-Hansen of Halfmoon Bay will carry the B.C. Liberal banner during the election campaign that kicked off Sept. 21.

Stoddart-Hansen, 70, is a consultant with a long history in the public service and private sectors. She also recently completed a term on the BC Ferry Authority board of directors and has been active as a community volunteer.

Officials with the Powell River-Sunshine Coast Liberal riding association said Monday that they’ve forwarded the necessary paperwork to have their choice of Stoddard-Hansen confirmed by party headquarters in time for the Oct. 2 Elections BC deadline. She also launched her Twitter account (@SandraSH4BC) and Facebook page Monday.

Stoddart-Hansen and her husband John Hansen are currently partners in Ballantree Consulting, which specializes in transportation consulting services including airport and marine port development. They’ve been full-time residents of the Coast since 2011 after commuting between Vancouver and Halfmoon Bay since the mid-90s.

Stoddart-Hansen said after several years of involvement in the B.C. Liberal Party and the local riding association she decided to step forward as a candidate, although she sees this as an unnecessary election. “Despite what Mr. Horgan says, I think it was just an opportunistic move to get a majority government, because he is polling rather positively at the moment,” she said.

“I look at our riding and I think that we’ve got some pretty pressing issues here. I believe that I’d be a really strong voice in Victoria. I’m well known both in the work and the volunteer sector as someone who can get things done, make things happen… I’m a tireless worker, and I would work hard for the people of this riding.”

Stoddart-Hansen said she expects transportation issues, such as a highway bypass and better ferry service, will be key issues in the campaign.

“There were 6,400 people that signed a petition that they took to the minister of transport, Claire Trevina, saying that we need to improve access around the Coast by putting in a bypass highway ... and when they met with the minister, she originally said no. More recently, she said, ‘well, you know, we’ll study it.’”

Stoddart-Hansen said as MLA she’d commit to getting that project started as soon as possible if the Liberals form a majority government.

When it comes to ferries, Stoddart-Hansen said when she was door-knocking and phoning as a party volunteer in previous elections, “ferries was always the number one issue that came up.”

Stoddart-Hansen also said her experience in the transportation industry and as a former chair of the ferry authority put her in a good position to push for better ferry service.

“It’s up to the government who has the contract with various services to ensure that the services are meeting the needs of the communities. And in our community, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that I don’t think they are,” she said. “I think we need to review [BC Ferries] really carefully and really quickly.”

Stoddart-Hansen acknowledged that voters in Powell River-Sunshine Coast may hold previous Liberal governments responsible for the current state of ferry service in the riding.

“I take that point, but this is a new voice,” she said. “[NDP candidate Nicholas Simons] had no opportunities to really work on that file when he was not a part of government … and during the time that the NDP have had their power sharing agreement and have held government, we still haven’t seen any movement on either the highway or the ferries.”

Stoddart-Hansen said Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson’s promise this week to suspend the provincial sales tax for one year and then lower it to three per cent in following years is “going to be a really good kickstarter” for the economic recovery.

She likens the criticism of that proposal to similar criticisms made against former Liberal premier Gordon Campbell.

“He promised if he was elected on day one he would reduce corporate and personal income taxes. And there were shouts of agony from all corners saying ‘that’s just crazy, it’ll never work, it won’t stimulate the economy, it’ll be a disaster, the government will go broke,’” she said. “That didn’t happen. Absolutely the opposite happened and the economy was stimulated by those moves.”

And, like most candidates across the province, Stoddart-Hansen is preparing for a non-traditional campaign.

“I guess we’re sort of inventing it as we go,” she said. “I am not going to open a campaign office in Powell River or on the south part of the Coast. Personally, I don’t think it is advisable for people to be milling about a campaign office and moving outside their bubble.”