Last-place mayoral candidate who asked for recount says he’ll run in byelection

The Nanaimo mayoral candidate who lost by 20,000 votes and requested a recount now has his sights set on provincial politics.

Ray Farmere told the News Bulletin he intends to be a candidate in the upcoming byelection in Nanaimo, running as an independent.

Nanaimo’s riding will be vacated by MLA Leonard Krog, who beat out Farmere last month to become the mayor of Nanaimo. Sheila Malcolmson, Nanaimo-Ladysmith’s current MP, is seeking the NDP’s nomination while the B.C. Liberals have announced Tony Harris as their intended candidate in the byelection. Robin Richardson, the founder and leader of the separatist Vancouver Island Party, also announced his intention to run.

“I want to run for MLA because there are a lot of things that I put together in my mayoral campaign, but I still want to try and bring them to the table in my MLA campaign,” Farmere said.

Farmere, who received 365 votes in the October municipal election, said the priorities for him include health care and education. He said he’d like to see programs for seniors and more after-school programs for children.

“A lot of this got cut over the 16 years that [the B.C. Liberals were] in power because the education budget got cut,” he said.

Farmere works in IT at Vancouver Island University, teaches ESL online and delivers newspapers. He said if he is elected as MLA in Nanaimo, he’d work directly with the city to address the issue of homelessness in the community.

“I want to look at working with the mayor to help with the homeless situation when and where I can,” he said. “So, going to parliament and talking about funding and things that can be made available and how we can go about improving the homeless situation in Nanaimo and B.C.”

Another priority for Farmere is transportation. He said public transportation needs to improve, particularly in Nanaimo and its surrounding communities.

“We have a 14-kilometre gap in the public transportation system between Nanaimo and Ladysmith and we have another 14-kilometre gap between Deep Bay and Fanny Bay,” he said. “If we connect those we will have a smooth bus system that works from Campbell River all the way to Victoria.”

After losing his bid to become mayor, Farmere requested a recount of the election results, claiming a technical error, but was denied in court.

“I still feel that something did happen,” Farmere said. “That’s why I asked for the recount.”

He said he learned a lot during his mayoral campaign. He said his weakness was that he didn’t reach enough people, but believes can reach more people this time around.

“I do feel I’ve got a shot at it,” Farmere said. “I just have to go out there with a better campaign.”

Farmere said people should vote for him because he will listen to everyone’s concerns. He said if he’s elected he’ll conduct surveys with his constituents to determine what the main issues are and how they can be solved.

“I want to hear what the people have to say and see what they want and what I can do to give them the things that they need,” he said. “It’s about giving the people what they want and representing your voters well in [the legislature] and that is what I will do. I will represent my voters … and stand up for them.”

If he doesn’t win in the byelection, Farmere said he would run in the 2019 federal election.