Barriere mayor Ward Stamer confirmed he will recuse himself from his role as mayor to run as a BC Conservative Party candidate in the upcoming provincial election once the writ is dropped in the fall of 2024.
Stamer is going to be running as a B.C. Conservative Party candidate for MLA in the new redefined Kamloops-North Thompson electoral riding against incumbent B.C. United MLA Todd Stone in the next provincial election which is scheduled to be held on October 19, 2024.
Stamer said he is motivated to run for the position of provincial MLA because he currently feels limited to what he can do in local government.
“Most of the time the buck stops with either the provincial or federal government and that is what has been frustrating for me,” said Stamer.
“When we look at healthcare, education, affordable housing and you see that local government doesn’t really have a say in that. Unless you are at that table, at that level, you won’t be able to make systemic changes and that’s the challenge. I think I’ve gone as far as I can go, no different than if I was the mayor in any other town, you have to move to the next level at some point to make the kind of sustainable, lasting changes that voters want us to make for a better future.”
Stamer said he feels quite confident that if he wins and has to take himself out of the “equation as mayor” he is “quite confident in the abilities of the remaining district councillors to step into that position in a bi-election or maybe there is someone else in our community that would like to step up and do the job as well.”