MLA Osborne runs for re-election

Mid-Island / Pacific Rim MLA Josie Osborne will run again in the upcoming provincial election.

The rookie MLA and former Mayor of Tofino was immediately given a cabinet portfolio upon election into John Horgan’s NDP government.

She was then moved into the Energy Mines and Low Carbon Innovation portfolio under David Eby.

“It’s really a privilege to serve in cabinet and to be able to bring the voice of our area into the cabinet room,” she said. “There are very few MLAs who come from rural areas right now in the BC NDP Caucus, so continuing that strong voice is really important as well as I now have the opportunity to travel across BC and bring back ideas back and seeing what other communities are doing I think is a huge benefit for people here at home.”

“This riding deserves a really strong voice in Victoria and making sure that the perspectives of rural communities and resource communities like Port Alberni are heard, is really important,” she said. “I’m really proud of the fact that we’ve been able to deliver 470 new homes in Port Alberni at below market rates, so that’s really helping people with the cost of living.”

“People love living in the Alberni Valley but they want make sure they can get out in the event of an emergency, and what we went through last summer was really challenging, so talking about secondary route access and emergency access is something that people that need to know that we have,” she said. “When it comes to our local economy, things are diversifying but we need to ensure we’ve got the fibre supply to keep the few mill jobs that we still have, that we’ve got to keep going, but to continue to add to the value-added side of things and build a really strong sustainable forest industry here that we can really be proud of.”

Joining Osborne on the ballot is Joshua Dahling of BC United.

The Green and BC Conservative parties have yet to announce their local candidates for the October 19th provincial election.