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B.C. Votes 2020: Liberal Shirley Bond projected to be re-elected in Prince George-Valemount

Bond has close to 60 per cent of the vote with mail-in-ballots yet to be counted
SHIRLEYBONDPS
Prince George-Valemount incumbent Shirley Bond. (via Jess Fedigan)

With mail-in-ballots yet to be counted, Shirley Bond is projected by The Canadian Press to be re-elected as MLA for Prince George-Valemount.

The longtime BC Liberal is the leader in the riding following tonight's (Oct. 24) preliminary 2020 B.C. election results, which is set to be her sixth term in office since 2001.

"Obviously, I hope that I’ve earned the confidence of the people of Prince George-Valemount," said Bond in an interview with PrinceGeorgeMatters. 

"I am energized. I know, provided, there’s a majority government in Victoria, I’m going to have my work cut out for me and I’m going to do my very best to speak up loudly and aggressively on behalf of Prince George-Valemount, should that be the ultimate outcome."

It was a happy, but also reflective occasion this evening for Bond as this was the first election campaign without her husband Billy, you passed away in June following a series of health challenges.

She's grateful for her family's 'incredible' support during these mentally difficult times.

“It's a very humbling experience to be elected once much less six times by the people of Prince George-Valemount. I’m very grateful and obviously a very emotional night for me and my family," Bond explained.

"When you think of six terms in provincial public office, you know, they’ve given up a lot to support me. My husband loved election night, my goal was to make him proud tonight and I hope I have done that."

Regardless, Bond says she's ready to get to work, should the projected outcome remain the same, which includes working on a new University Hospital of Northern BC, which was promised by the NDP on the eve of the snap-election call, in addition to other issues she wishes to focus on for her riding.

“We need it, we deserve it, it’s time it got delivered. So from my perspective, that will continue to be a priority, but we also need to pay attention to the economy. Not only do we have to continue to pay attention to the [COVID-19] pandemic and the health and well-being of British Columbians, a non-partisan issue and I think we've demonstrated that that’s the case, but we’re also needing to be paying attention to the economy. We need a job-creation strategy, an economic recovery plan that’s going to restore confidence and rebuild British Columbia. It doesn’t matter which side the legislature my seat is on; my priorities are going to be standing up for the people of Prince George-Valemount, working hard to ensure that British Columbia emerges from difficult circumstances in a positive way, and that’s going to stake a lot of work. Obviously, we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves."

Bond says she respects the mail-in process, which is expected to be fully counted by Nov. 16, according to Elections BC.

She adds there have been lots of lessons learned from the 2020 election with it being in the middle of a global pandemic.

"I think that we’ve had to look at new ways and creative ways to be connected with constituents. Things like Facebook LIVE, using social media and finding new ways to connect, and I think that’s absolutely essential. I’ve always believed the next election campaign starts the day after the current on ends, and so I think you start working, you connect and you work hard for four years. By the time we get to another election, there will be new ways of approaching how you campaign."

She currently has close to 58.5 per cent of the vote with more than 7,000 valid ballots have been counted as of this publication (Oct. 24, 10:45 p.m.) from Advance Voting and Election Day today.

NDP Laura Parent is behind 24.76 per cent of the Prince George-Valemount vote with mail-in ballots yet to be counted. 

As of Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m., Elections BC says they have received 497,900 vote-by-mail packages out of the 724,279 voters in the province that requested a ballot. 

Prince George-Valemount has a registered voter total of 36,700 with 6,658 requesting vote-by-mail packages. 

IMPORTANT NOTE / NOTE TO READERS about mail-in ballots: Due to the anticipated number of mail-in ballots, the election night vote count will not be complete. The Canadian Press will continue to publish updated riding results to the map and banners as available until counting is complete