Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Stu Holland
August 25, 2017 - 2:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - Construction worker Stu Holland is running to become mayor of Kamloops with the belief city council needs to get behind the KGHM Ajax mine proposal.
Holland has filed his nominatin papers for the Sept. 30 byelection.
He doesn't have any political experience aside from a failed attempt at an alderman's seat in Medicine Hat, but says he pays close attention to local politics and once he started seeing how council was handling the Ajax proposal he decided it was time to do something about it.
"Once they started kicking this Ajax ball in the air that made me make a decision that I'm going to jump in," he says. "I totally support Ajax, mostly because of the economic benefits. It will create jobs in this city."
Holland says he has not been impressed with the way council has handled the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office report that found no long term negative impacts will be created by the mine. He feels they should have waited until after the byelection so there could have been a full council to vote on whether to ask the government for more opportunities to talk about the mine proposal.
"I didn't really like the way they handled that."
Other local issues Holland believes aren't being dealt with properly include homelessness and drug use. He feels the kind of community outreach and social media surveys we are seeing used by the City and business associations simply aren't good enough.
"That's kind of putting people in a box and saying 'what's the problem here'," he says. "And then they're talking about having more RCMP patrols in the area.That's part of the social downturn in the community here in Kamloops with the homeless people."
"I think people need to get a little more involved in the community instead of asking for help. I was a small business owner in a community in Alberta that had a drug issue running through my neighbourhood and I corrected it. I said 'not in my neighbourhood when I'm raising my kids'."
Holland is one of four candidates who have officially filed papers at city hall as of noon today, Aug. 25. It is the final day that nomination packages will be accepted.
Other confirmed mayoral candidates are Ken Christian, Todd McLeod and Bill McQuarrie. In the race to fill two empty council positions there are 18 candidates who have filed their papers.
For more on the Kamloops byelection, go here.
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