Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Doug Clovechok has said his goodbyes to the B.C. Legislature after serving eight years in office.
Clovechok says he enjoyed his time as a representative, but he is happy to leave provincial politics behind.
“I had such a wonderful opportunity to be the MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke for those eight years. It’s been such a privilege and a pleasure to work for the people of this riding, but there is a shelf-life to this job,” said Clovechok.
“I knew that time had come when I mentioned that I was going to run again and my kids had a bit of an intervention. They told me I needed to spend some time with them, my wife and my grandkids.”
Before running for office, Clovechok moved into the riding from Alberta and eventually joined the BC Liberal Party (later renamed to the BC United Party).
“When I moved here, I wanted to be politically active and I found the BC Liberals. I’m a federal Conservative, so that didn’t quite square with me, but I found out the Liberals were actually conservatives,” said Clovechok.
“I joined the riding association and became president and everything lined up with me being the candidate. I was initially going to run federally, but I met [former BC Liberal leader] Christy Clark and my world changed.”
He was initially elected MLA to represent the BC Liberals in 2017 and won the riding for the Liberals again in 2020.
Reflecting on his time in office, Clovechok says he is proud of his ability to work across the aisle for the benefit of the riding.
“Working with the Solicitor General, I was able to secure $15 million for Avalanche Canada over 15 years, which is based out of Revelstoke. 80 per cent of all avalanche deaths in Canada occur in B.C. and yet we had the lowest funded organization,” said Clovechok.
“That’s the important thing about this job; you don’t do this on your own, you do this with the people who elected you and we accomplished a lot.”
Clovechok will leave his seat for Columbia River-Revelstoke newly-elected BC Conservative MLA Scott McInnis.
“To the people of Columbia River-Revelstoke: you have elected an outstanding representative in Scott McInnis. I had a hand in picking him and I knew exactly what this riding needed,” said Clovechok.
Clovechok says he’s looking forward to spending time with friends and family in his retirement.
“My three grandsons live in Minnesota, so I’m going to visit them a little more often and my granddaughters live in Saskatoon, so I’ll be seeing a bit more of Saskatchewan, too,” said Clovechok.
“I also haven’t gone hunting since I got elected, so there’s no question that I’m going to go back out in the bush next fall. I’m going to hang out with Bill Bennett a little bit and do some hunting and fishing with him.”
He has received some offers to serve on local committees, but he is undecided about joining for now.
Clovechok gave a parting message to constituents, saying it has been an honour to serve them.
“I want to thank everyone in the riding, whether you voted for me or not. I want to thank you for the respect, kindness and friendships that you gave to me,” said Clovechok.
“Thank you, it has been an absolute pleasure.”
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