SEAN UPSHAW; "Let me remind everyone that the word 'serve' is in Conservative"

Who is Westside-Kelowna BC Conservative candidate Sean Upshaw?  Well I asked Sean that very question, and here is what he had to say: 

Westside-Kelowna BC Conservative
candidate Sean Upshaw

Every story has a beginning.  Mine is similar to some, and greatly dissimilar to others.  I begin with this simply to let you know my early roots.  My parents divorced when I was 3. and I ended up in foster homes and between parents. Due to illness my Mom was on Disability Assistance; my father was an alcoholic. It was a challenging time for me as a child, and into my late teens. 

At age 18 I nearly died when I was stung by dozens of wasps, and I went into anaphylactic shock. I survived, and shortly after, I made a decision to make some major changes in my life.  Since then I have never looked back, and set myself on a path to be the best person I can. 

I have been married to my lovely wife, Heather, for almost 30 years. We moved here to Kelowna 11 years ago from Abbotsford, with our 3 children, Andrew, Sarah and Dave.  

Since then, Andrew has gotten married, to Ashley, and they have 2 children, Noah and Ezra. Sarah has been working with me for about 7 years. She did receive her real estate license, but is now working as my unlicensed assistant. Dave was working in real estate with us as well, but has recently moved to Vancouver with his fiancé, Jen. 

Heather and I have a dog named Sami. Some of my hobbies are spending time with my family, watching Canucks hockey and Golf, being out on the lake in the summertime, and vintage cars. I really enjoy studying the stars, the universe and physics. 

I am also a political junkie.  My political interest began when at the age of 10 in Camrose Alberta.  There I had the opportunity to meet, and shake the hand of, Premier Peter Lougheed. From that moment on, I grew to learn that that one individual can make a difference in this world. 

In the 2011 Federal Election I ran as an Independent Conservative Candidate in the Okanagan Coquihalla riding, and of course in the recent BC Provincial General Election, I ran as a candidate for the BC Conservatives. 

My record is that of a person who is well educated, a real

achiever who is not afraid to be innovative and take risks. 

I am loyal and committed to what is right, and to serving people whenever and wherever I am able. Even though I could have been held back by a challenging start to life, I have not let that hold me back from being the best person I can be. 

The reason I have chosen to run, in the Westside Kelowna by-election, is because our Province truly needs a Conservative government if we are to ever get out of the financial mess that the BC Liberals have put us in. 

It is not an easy task taking on a Premier, especially one who is as arrogant and cunning as the one we have now. 

Our province has been robbed from, lied too, and corrupted by this present Liberal government, but hopefully with new eyes on the situation, and the ability to speak first hand to it, they can finally be held to account. 

The BC Liberals have done a masterful job, of covering up their past, with a campaign that was paid for by the very taxpayers that are being deceived. I guess you could say we have sown the wind, and reaped to the whirlwind. Soon the chickens will come home to roost. 

Unfortunately it seems the media, in large part, are a big part of the problem. They have long passed the point of journalism and have been sold out to commercialism. The unbiased days of truth and fairness have been replaced with favoritism and greed, and the need to be populist instead realists. 

Am I being too honest?  

So I have chosen to run because I, like many BC Conservatives, am not under the “spell” of this agenda. 

I see my role in Victoria as one of fighting for truth in the midst of what Christy Clark herself has called a “sick” culture -- one I hope that a growing number of British Columbians will come to acknowledge as a role much in need of being filled. It certainly is not one that the NDP will take on, after all, they are as much a part of it, as the BC Liberals.

This will also be one which will be rewarded by the loyalty of the people of Westside- Kelowna -- this is for them and not just a meal ticket for prosperity in my retirement. Potentially it will pave the way for other Conservatives to join the fray, until one day, we get our chance at serving the people and restoring integrity and transparency to Victoria. 

And what about issues ... and there are plenty of issues and on many levels? 

I feel the biggest is making good on the unfulfilled promises that have been left blank.  

For just over a year BC Liberal MLA Ben Stewart, and the Mayor of West Kelowna, did not even talk to each other.  Many believe that was due to a very bad deal which was negotiated with the Westbank First nations, due to the building of the new floating bridge. The Mayor caught him with his hands in the cookie jar.

Eight acres of land was going to be traded for 700 acres -- and -- this would have left the cities water supply in jeopardy.  The value of the land being given to the Westbank First Nation was valued at many times what was being given up. A biased “appraisal” was fabricated. to try and justify the “deal”.  To top it off, millions of taxpayer dollars -- many of them from the very residents of Westside Kelowna, were thrown in to a deal that was already bad enough. So now the city is being built up on Reserve land near Kelowna, while downtown Westbank looks like the backside of Detroit.

Westbank downtown may never be the vibrant area it should be, because of how these underhanded land deals have effected the road patterns forcing a freeway to run through mainstreet. 

The people of Westside-Kelowna, which I hope to represent after the by-election, still do not have a medical facility. 

We have the worst road in BC for the second year in a row. 

The promised land for a City Hall has never happened, and maybe won’t happen now, because the Province needs to sell off surplus land in order to “balance” it’s budget. 

Traffic going into Kelowna still does not flow correctly, because of disagreements from the Ministry of Transportation, and the City of Kelowna’s wishes for change. Some businesses are being hurt because of these patterns. 

These are just a few of the issues. West Kelowna needs an infusion of help in it’s local economy so it is not so dependent on being a bedroom of Kelowna. 

I can only see the challenges -- and even the potential time bomb it would be -- if the relationship between the self governing Westbank First Nations goes sour when they also have to take a back seat to a otherwise occupied absentee MLA in the Premier. 

I believe my role is to be a true voice for, and representative of, the people

of Westside-Kelowna; everything else will flow from that. It is about

electing a BC Conservative into the mix, so that the process of building

“good” government can begin. In a sense this is a referendum on whether

the province wants to turn the corner on governments that are not

accountable to -- or representative of -- the people of our great province. 

In electing me, the people of Westside will get an actively engaged MLA, instead of an absentee figurehead.  Good luck in actually sitting across the desk with Christy Clark in Kelowna, and sharing a 'real' concern with your MLA.  At best, you'll have an aid taking notes, and screening them for her.  

An MLA that actually has the ability to truly be responsive, and accountable, to the voter, is what is needed to find real solutions to the needs of constituents.

Finally, let me remind everyone that the word 'serve' is in Conservative. That is what I will do, should the people of Westside Kelowna elect me on July 10th.

Sincerely,
Sean Upshaw,
BC Conservative candidate
Westside-Kelowna