A Powell River resident has been elected to the executive of the BC Liberal Party. Kevin Sigouin, president of the Powell River-Sunshine Coast Riding Association, is now the secretary of the party. Sigouin was elected during the party’s policy convention, held recently in Penticton, BC.
Sigouin was one of three candidates vying for the position. He said the other candidates were well known in the province.
Sigouin said he was shocked when he won. He gave a speech to the approximately 1,000 party members attending the event before the vote and focused on three reasons why he wanted the position.
The first was democratic freedoms. Sigouin worked in the international insurance business out of Alberta. He insured contractors and non-profit charities working in war-torn countries. “As a result of that, I quickly learned and saw political systems at their worst,” he said. “For that reason, I believe you have to be part of our democratic institutions here in North America.”
As well, his experience as president and a director of the riding association gave him a chance to learn about the opportunities riding associations have, as well as the challenges.
Sigouin said he also stressed his age. “I’m 34 years old and I’m the future of the BC Liberal Party, with a young family. I want to make sure there are multiple generations sitting at the table of the BC Liberal executive.”
Twelve members of the riding association attended the event. Two of the four resolutions proposed by the riding association passed. Dave Formosa, a riding director, brought forward a transportation resolution. It noted that economic development on the North Island and Powell River-Sunshine Coast is constrained by transportation times to Vancouver and North American markets. It called for the ministry of transportation and infrastructure and BC Ferries to develop a Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-North Island transportation corridor plan that would significantly reduce the travel time between Vancouver, Sunshine Coast and Comox.
Formosa said the idea is to lower rates on the Sunshine Coast ferry routes and coordinate schedules so the route is time effective. The transportation corridor would take the pressure off Nanaimo, he added. “You go to Vancouver and you see really big lineups to Nanaimo,” he said. “We’re saying let’s run those vehicles through Powell River.”
Sigouin has resigned as president of the riding association and one of its two vice-presidents will step into that role until the group’s annual general meeting in the fall, when a president will be elected.
