The year 2020 will go down as a write-off for many people after COVID-19 hit the world at a rapid pace.
And Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris is no different, saying he too believes this was a year to forget.
"The year started off for me, I ended up with pneumonia in February and I often look back on that and wonder if I ended up with COVID as well.
"My wife got quite sick and we quarantined ourselves at home for a couple months there. I missed the last part of the spring session down at the legislature and just toughed it out like anybody else.
"It's [COVID] had a devastating effect on the economy, it's had a devestating effect on people throughout the province here and I look forward to 2021 when we can look COVID in the rearview mirror and start socializing, start doing the things we love to do here in British Columbia.
"2020 was a write-off for me."
Roughly two months ago was when residents went to the polls after Premier John Horgan announced in September he believed British Columbians needed a more stable government for the next four years and to be able to have a full focus on the pandemic with a provincial election slated in 2021.
The move set off both the BC Liberals and BC Green Party, who the BC NDP held a minority government with, saying Horgan was mixing politics with a pandemic, at the risk of British Columbians and the move was self-serving.
Morris and the BC Liberals are the official opposition to the BC NDP, who won a majority government in a massive victory on Oct. 24.
Horgan and his party picked up 57 seats while the BC Liberals picked up 28 and the BC Greens actually lost a seat and were victorious in two ridings.
Morris said the election was unnecessary with B.C. in a major crisis, struggling with the economy and the pandemic itself. He says the work could have been done with the minority government that was already in place.
"It was a minority government when we ventured into 2020 and you know, we had already exercised our opposition in cooperating with government on a number of things but that was more pronounced when COVID hit in February.
"The [BC] NDP party had the full cooperation of both parties actually, in every member of the house, in doing whatever necessary to move through COVID and all of the difficulties associated with that.
"Of course, the surprise election that occurred in September was poorly thought out in my view and in the view of many others out there. But I think that set the province behind by a couple of months so the government put politics over people and politics over COVID and here we are, people are still struggling to get their COVID relief funds before Christmas.
Morris won his third term representing Prince George-Mackenzie, claiming 50.80 per cent of the popular vote. He finished with 8,543 votes.
"It's very humbling once again to be supported by so many people in Prince George –Mackenzie, hopefully, I won’t disappoint them sitting as an opposition member for the next four years," Morris also told PrinceGeorgeMatters on election night.
"I’d still like to make it clear to the folks in the legislature that we have issues with up here with forestry, I’d like to see a diversified economy from the resource sector take place. I’d like to see a petrochemical industry come forward here so I am going to be aggressively pursuing those things for the central interior and for British Columbia."
The final results in the riding were as follows:
- Joan Atkinson - BC NDP: 5,717 votes (33.99 per cent)
- Catharine Kendall - BC Green Party: 1935 votes (11.51 per cent)
- Dee Kranz - Christian Heritage Party of B.C: 336 votes (Two per cent)
- Raymond Rodgers - BC Libertarian Party: 287 votes (1.71 per cent)
A total of 17,445 valid votes were cast in Prince George-Valemount and 16,818 in Prince George-Mackenzie.
While British Columbians are still tying to access the COVID-19 relief benefit offered by the government, Morris says the execution has been poorly thought out, after residents have been struggling for almost a year.
"It was something they could have done without holding an election and without calling the legislature back in December to pass that bill," he said.
"Basically, that bill was presented to the legislature to extend the budgetary process by another month on top of the month they had extended it back in August, so the COVID relief funds could have been done very easily by government without convening parliament. It could have been done very easily by the minority government that was in place.
"People are suffering and it's not going to be over anytime soon for them, unfortunately."
Morris said Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, has done an extremely good job but the government itself hasn't. Henry is non-partisan and not affiliated with any political party.
"One thing they could have done a little better is more clarity in the rules around COVID with respect to the restrictions, crowds and social distancing and all of those kinds of things.
"They should have come out right at the beginning giving the police and authorities to enforce it, if it was necessary and should make the rules so that it was clear enough that everybody understood what was right and what was wrong.
"I think we could have been able to contain things a little bit better.
Another large event in 2020 in the Prince George area when it comes to the government was Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond tapped as interim leader of the BC Liberal Party after former leader Andrew Wilkinson stepped down after the major loss in the election, something Morris is confident in.
"Shirley's got a long track record with the BC Liberal Party back to 2001 so she definitely has the experience and whatnot.
"As an interim leader, I think she'll do a good job but I think it's also time we look at getting out of the same old, same old pattern that we've been in. Voters spoke very clearly during the election and that's why we lost the number of seats that we did and we have to reinvent ourselves.
Morris has some hopes for 2021, looking for a fresh start and more progress moving forward for British Columbians, especially as vaccines are now being rolled out across the province.
"I'm hoping to focus on economic recovery for the province and our economy, especially in the resources sector.
"We have all kinds of opportunities. We're lucky in this part of the world to have the kinds of resources that we do have to rely on for jobs. I'm looking forward to that."
"We're going to still go through a bad time for the next few weeks but I think as vaccines kick in and summer approaches, hopefully we will be able to enjoy the sandy beaches and opportunities that we have up here in the interior."
