Independent candidate Brent Bush has announced his intention to run as a candidate in the riding of Kootenay-Columbia, saying he’s there to shake up the party system. “I’m running as an independent because our party based political system is failing to represent the people it claims to serve,” Bush said in a Mar. 26 statement declaring his run for the seat. “It’s all about political games and posturing now.”
Bush ran as an NDP candidate in 2004 and 2006. He earned 23.8 per cent of the vote in his first attempt and 25.9 per cent in his second run. He was soundly defeated by Conservative Jim Abbott, who took 52 per cent and 54.4 per cent of the vote, respectively.
In his statement, Bush said his campaign would focus on two themes, “[T]he first [theme] is political accountability. I want to know why the local Conservative campaign participated in the “in and out” financing scheme during the 2006 election and why Mr. Abbott’s official agent failed to appear before a Parliamentary Ethics Committee in 2008,” Bush alleges.
Bush says his second focus would be to push for the renegotiating of the Columbia River Treaty. “My vision is to protect Canada’s fresh water resources by re-negotiating the Columbia River Treaty with the United States. Formal notice to re-negotiate can be given on Sept. 16, 2014. Modernizing the 50-year-old Treaty to prepare for climate change and our own fresh water needs is critical,” Bush said in a statement, adding the renegotiation would mean “extensive consultation and dialogue.”
Bush says his status as an independent separates himself from the other two declared Conservative and NDP candidates. “It’s time to send an independent voice to Ottawa to shake things up,” Bush said.
