Conservative Tony Luck is the new MLA for the Fraser-Nicola riding.
"I'm feeling very, very, good," Luck said. "It could have gone anyway for this riding. But once we saw those numbers starting to creep in, then the weight was off and I felt very good about it.
"And I'm really excited about getting to work for the constituents of this riding."
Polls for B.C.’s 2024 provincial election have been closed as of 8 p.m. and, all across the province, people are waiting with bated breath to see who will lead the government for the next four years. While votes are still being counted for the close race, the results for the Fraser-Nicola riding have been finalized to reveal Luck as the elected successor to former MLA Jackie Tegart.
Luck, who served as a city councillor for both Mission and Merritt, waited for the results with friends, family, and supporters in downtown Merritt at the Country Music Hall of Honour. The final count was 10,146 votes for Luck, 6,716 votes for candidate Francyne Joe (NDP), and 1,697 votes for candidate Jonah Timms (Green).
Luck, who is a real estate agent in Merritt, said he ran in the election because he believes a change is necessary in B.C. And he believes that change can be done through the Conservatives. Born and raised in Vancouver, Luck worked 26 years with BC Hydro and, in addition to being a city councillor, held leadership positions with the Fraser Valley Regional District and the Southern Interior Local Government Association
He is looking forward to making this change happen in the riding.
"There's been a very big absence of a consultation, and collaboration from the government to everybody in the province. And I would really like to start doing something different," Luck said. " I think it's going to be very, very, important for me to do some community round-tables and talk to the people within my riding. For me to go Hope, go to Agassiz, go to Harrison — talk to the people at Lytton, Lillooet, all those places.
"Of course, John's the leader. He'll be directing, and leading us, and setting the agenda for us as well. So, I'll be working under that but my big thing is making sure that the citizens of this riding are heard."
He is also looking forward to representing the constituents for the next four years.
"Thank you very much for putting your trust in me. I'm overwhelmed and I'm overjoyed. And its amazing the support I've gotten from this riding and from the people," he said. " So I really, really, want to make sure that I look after the trust that they've put in me."
As the new MLA for the Fraser-Nicola riding, Luck will be representing: Hope, Yale, Boston Bar, Merritt, Lytton, Logan Lake, Lillooet, and communities on the north bank of the Fraser River such as Durieu, Dewdney, Deroche, Lake Errock, Harrison Mills, Harrison Hot Springs, and the District of Kent.
This year's election is believed to be one for the history books with a record-breaking turnout during advanced voting. This was the first provincial election with new riding boundaries, which increased the number of seats in the legislature to 93 from 87.
During the election Luck's campaign trail found worthy opponents in Timms and Joe, who all battled it out as they spoke with constituents about their platforms.
Timms, who said he is disappointed about the outcome of the election, is looking forward to holding Luck accountable to his promise of being a true advocate and representative of the riding.
"Tony, he travelled around the riding and that's fantastic," Timms said. "Our interactions at the debates will likely not the last that he'll be hearing from me. It'll be a lot of work in the legislature. Right now, it's looking like a minority government. And that was my hope, that the voters would hold the NDP, and the Conservatives, to a minority government there with the Greens.
"I'm interested to see what happens in the next month or two. But I'm happy, and I'm looking forward to interacting with Tony, now that he's our MLA. He did say that he was going to represent us, and be coming to our communities often. So I look forward to that as well."
Joe, who is glad she went out of her comfort zone by becoming a candidate, shares similar sentiments.
"I'm definitely going to be holding our new MLA accountable," Joe said. "We were very disappointed when he didn't participate in the NVIT (Nicola Valley Institute of Technology) forum because we need to make sure these forums are safe for all people — that they can feel like they can come and ask their questions.
"So, that would be something I want to work on, to continue to work on, is making sure everybody feels heard.
Both Joe and Timms said they are glad that, regardless of the outcome, it seemed like more people voted and made sure their voices were heard. And they are grateful to their supporters and for getting to meet so many people during their campaigning.
The two candidates also have no plans of stopping their work within the riding, after taking a few days of rest; Timms, in addition to continuing with the B.C. Ministry of Forests (MOF) as a First Nations relations advisor, said he is considering running for council in the next two years; similarly, Joe plans to do more work with First Nations Emergency Services and hopefully connecting with the election's other Indigenous and women candidates.
-with files from Adam Louis
