MLAs preparing to move out of constituency offices on writ day

The B.C. provincial election gets underway Tuesday, officially that is. The campaign has been going on unofficially for at least a few weeks, but April 16 is the day the writ drops, in common parlance. In more formal language, the writ of election is issued.

“A writ is a formal order signed by the Chief Electoral Officer and the Lieutenant Governor calling for an election to be held,” says the Elections B.C. website. “In a by-election, a writ is only issued for the ED (electoral district) holding an election. In a general election, a writ is issued for every ED in the province. The day the writs are issued is called Day 0.”

What many people don’t realize, or maybe don’t think about, is that as of writ day the MLAs no longer hold office. Their term is finished. If they aren’t running again — as in the case of Kevin Krueger — their political career is over (I wrote about Krueger’s record in Thursday’s Armchair Mayor column in The Kamloops Daily News, http://www.kamloopsnews.ca). If they are running again — as in the case of Terry Lake — they’re just candidates.

When I checked in with June Phillips, Krueger’s executive assistant, she and other staff were busy preparing to close up shop on Tuesday. She explained that constituents calling the office after Tuesday will be directed by a phone message to Terry Lake’s Tranquille Road office.

However, Lake will no longer be in the office. Officially, it’s no longer his so he can’t use it. It will remain open, though, so that staff there can take care of inquiries and handle any pressing constituency matters for both the Kamloops-South Thompson and Kamloops-North Thompson ridings. Otherwise, the public can contact Inquiry B.C.

Basically, the business of government is in limbo until after the election May 14.

For Phillips, April 16 marks the end of more than 16 years working for politicians. While that’s the same number of years Krueger was in politics, she worked for Penticton MLA Bill Barisoff (who finished up as Speaker of the House and also is not running for re-election) before moving to Kamloops to run Krueger’s office.

“It will definitely be a transition,” she said.