Newly elected MLA Mike Morris wouldn't rule out giving up his Prince George-Mackenzie seat if Liberal leader Christy Clark is looking for a place to run in a possible byelection.
"I'd certainly give it serious consideration," Morris said Wednesday, a day after picking up 55 per cent of the popular vote in his first crack at provincial politics. "I think Prince George would be well served by having a Premier here. It's something that I'd have to carefully consider if that was ever presented to me."
Morris was one of 50 Liberal MLAs to win seats in Tuesday's election, but Clark doesn't appear to be among them. With absentee ballots still pending, Clark trails NDP opponent David Eby by 785 votes in her Vancouver-Point Grey riding. In order to get a spot in the legislature, Clark will likely need to ask one of her MLAs in a safe Liberal seat to step aside so she can earn a spot through a byelection.
During local campaign stops, Clark had jokingly mused about the possibility of buying a house in Prince George since she's made so many visits to the city since she took over as Premier - that could become reality if she decided to use Prince George-Mackenzie as a springboard back into the legislature.
Morris said he's sure he's not the only MLA who would be willing to take one for the team.
"I'm sure every elected MLA in the province has that in mind," Morris said. "Christy is a great leader and I'm sure any of us would do what ever is needed to make sure that she remains [in office]."
Morris credits Clark's leadership for the Liberals come-from-behind win as the Liberals defied the pollsters and pundits to win a fourth straight term in office.
With all the polls reporting in Prince George-Mackenzie, Morris picked up 9,330 votes to 5,865 for NDP challenger Bobby Deepak. With 55 per cent of the votes, Morris was just one percentage point below the 56 per cent his predecessor Pat Bell picked up in the riding four years ago.
Morris watched the returns roll in from a hotel room at the Coast Inn of the North on Tuesday night, with family members close by. By about 9 p.m., he realized he had enough votes to win the seat.
With a background as a RCMP superintendent and a trapper, Morris expects a bit of a learning curve as he adjusts to his next career as an MLA. He's planning to retain Bell's core constituency staff, which should make the transition easier.
"I've known the staff for quite some time now and I know they're quite efficient and they do their job well and that's just another plus for me, I don't have to start from scratch there," Morris said.
He's still awaiting word from the party about the details of the swearing-in ceremony, which could take place later this month or early in June. At that time Morris and other rookie MLAs will be briefed on their new roles and responsibilities as well as how things work in Victoria.
"They'll take us through the [legislature], I've been in there several times for various meetings and whatnot, but I'm still curious to see some of the other parts of it."
Among the issues that Morris wants to bring to the forefront now that he's in office are area-based forestry tenures as well as finding ways for all forest resource users to work more co-operatively.
"I'm ecstatic about what happened [Tuesday night] and the fact that we formed government, which is all the better from my perspective," he said. "Let's get the show on the road and get things moving."
