It’s been a week since Abbotsford and Mission voters appointed two new Liberal MLAs, and life for both of them is about to change dramatically.
Simon Gibson (Abbotsford-Mission) and Darryl Plecas (Abbotsford South) are both making significant changes to their present careers in order to take on their new provincial representative roles.
Reflecting back on election night, Coun. Simon Gibson said he was more nervous than he expected, and even he was surprised by the results.
But, he noted that he campaigned until the last minute and has strong support from the Liberal Party.
“I think it was a combination of excellent campaigning by our leader and I also acknowledge that I was quite well-known in much of the constituency.”
With Gibson moving to the legislature, he will no longer participate in Abbotsford city council.
“I’ve discussed this with the mayor,” he said. “I will be withdrawing from active involvement on council and will no longer be compensated.”
Gibson said council will operate with seven councillors and the mayor, but he will be available should anything on council require his attention.
In January, he will formally resign from his position as councillor, to which he was first elected in 1979.
By resigning so close to the next election the city will not have to undertake an “expensive byelection.”
“Being a councillor in Abbotsford has been an extraordinary experience and I’ll miss it very much,” he said.
But he is looking forward to his new role, serving the people of Abbotsford-Mission.
“I’m excited about this opportunity to serve in the larger arena.”
Darryl Plecas is in a similar situation, now having a job as MLA and with the University of the Fraser Valley. He dealt with the situation quickly.
“Just today, I retired,” he told The News on Friday morning.
“I will still have an association with the university, of course, but in terms of my work there, I’ve retired.”
Because of owed holiday time, his retirement officially starts on Aug. 31.
He said he still has some time to organize his affairs before his new life as an MLA begins.
“It’s my understanding that we don’t get sworn in until the beginning of June,” he said, adding after that he will go to “MLA school.”
He said he is feeling very good about the challenges ahead and is only setting one goal for himself.
“That is, at the next election, get in with the single biggest landslide in B.C. history. To do work that ma
kes people pleased enough, regardless of what party they are from.”
He referenced his opponent John van Dongen as an example, pointing out he received about 5,000 votes as an independent.
“Part of what I’ll do is carry on his (van Dongen’s) tradition of good work.”
He said he can achieve that goal if he is “working as hard as John did,” and “make sure I get stuff done.”
As for the election results, Plecas said he was one of the few people who was not surprised by the results.
He said early on he predicted the percentage of the NDP vote. Plecas believes the pollsters’ sampling was skewed.
According to Plecas, polling companies don’t sample the right group of people and don’t factor in that 50 per cent of them don’t vote, even though “they tell you they will.”
The biggest factor they missed was “the human spirit.”
“People want to be confident, people want to see that the glass if half full and Christy Clark exemplified that.”
