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| Former MP John Cummins |
This morning at a news conference in Vancouver, former Conservative MP John Cummins announced his intentions to lead the BC Conservatives. Cummins is the first to announce his intentions to seek the leadership, and will give the party a real boost in public – and in the media.
John Cummins first ran federally as a Reform Party candidate in 1988, but was not elected until 1993 when he went to Ottawa as the MP for Delta. He won re-election each time since then through the transition of the Reform Party to the Canadian Alliance – and then the Conservative Party.
A look at his biography shows a man that in 1988 earned an M.A. from University of British Columbia ... and who received a B.A. from University of Western Ontario in 1966.
Prior to that he worked in the pulp and paper industry in Ontario, the oil fields of Alberta, and on the construction of the Bennett hydroelectric dam in northern B.C. He also taught school in the Northwest Territories and in the Peace River district of northern Alberta, then spent fifteen years teaching in Delta.
John is also a commercial fisherman; he has owned and operated commercial fishing boats in B.C. for over 20 years. In the past he has been well known for run ins with the Fisheries Department over exclusive First Nations Fisheries.
His life experience shows him to be a person that can roll up thier sleeves and work hard -- and this is someone that British Columbians from all walks of life will be able to identifty with.
His life experience shows him to be a person that can roll up thier sleeves and work hard -- and this is someone that British Columbians from all walks of life will be able to identifty with.
During the past couple, of years, in addition to his role as an MP in Ottawa for Steven Harper’s Conservative Party, John Cummins was a part of the Tactical Advisory Group for the BC Conservative Party – along with another former Reformer Randy White. Other members of the group included former BC Premier Rita Johnston, former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford, and a number of other former politicians with a broad range of municipal, provincial and federal experience.
These are exactly the kind of people the BC Conservative Party will need to keep its forward momentum going – especially now with the impending announcement from John Cummins that he will be seeking the leadership of the party.
These are also the kind of people the party will need to guide the crop of 85 candidates the party plans to run in the next general election – some of whom may even be considering running as candidates in that election – time will tell.
John Cummins, at the media conference this morning at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver, said that he wants to lead a party that offers a choice and alternative to the old line Liberal and NDP parties, and top-down directive to MLAs.
The news has also been delivered to Premier Christy Clark, who will now need to begin worrying about the threat that he, and the BC Conservative Party are about to deliver to the BC Liberals.
The next stage in a movement to deliver real choice -- and true accountability to the voters of BC -- has just begun begun.
I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops, and those are the thoughts of one conservative.
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