The MLA-elect for Kootenay-West Katrine Conroy says she was humbled to be elected to a fifth-straight term on Saturday, which happened to be her birthday.
Speaking with NL News, Conroy says this election was different than all others because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and says her campaign team worked hard to get the word out.
She won by a landslide on Saturday, with more than 59 per cent of the votes after preliminary results were counted.
“I don’t ever take anything for granted. And there were five other candidates, which means there were a lot of options for people in Kootenay-West… It was good, I mean it’s important for democracy to have a good race when you’re running in an election. And I think we had that here in Kootenay-West.”
Conroy says her late husband Ed was missed this weekend as he passed away in June. Ed also served as the MLA in the riding for 10 years, from 1991 to 2001.
“It was hard, because he was always there for me. We would have discussions, he understood the role. It’s not an easy job and not everybody understands it but he certainly did. So I could bounce ideas off of him, and that always was really helpful, and he was incredibly supportive,” she says.
“He always was the one organizing the signs, getting them out there. But everybody stepped up, I had a great campaign team. You don’t win elections because of yourself, you win because of the people working with you, your team of people… It was an odd election, it was not your typical election where you could get out and talk to people and shake hands… Definitely missed him, and thought about him a lot.”
With the NDP in position to hold 55 seats in the next government, Conroy is flanked by two other potential NDP MLAs in neighboring ridings.
To the east, Brittny Anderson, a first time candidate replacing the outgoing NDP MLA Michelle Mungall, has been declared in Nelson-Creston, while Roly Russell has been declared in the riding of Boundary-Similkameen to the west – a Liberal seat before the election.
Conroy points out both Anderson and Russell have experience at the local government level, and says she looks forward to working with them going forward.
Moving forward, Conroy will almost certainly be returning to John Horgan’s cabinet in some role. She was Minister of Children and Family Development before the election was called.
“I really was honored to be the Minister of Children and Family, and really like the Ministry. I think there’s a lot of opportunity there, we were getting lots done. It’s been amazing how much we did get done in three-and-a-half years. I’d love to carry it on, but I’ll do whatever the Premier asked me to do.”
Conroy was also the Minister Responsible for the Columbia Power Corporation, the Columbia Basin Trust and the Columbia River Treaty and says she’d like to continue in that role as well.