Kamloops lawyer Bill Sundhu was recently made the New Democratic Party candidate for the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo race in the next federal election set for October 2015.
The seat is currently held by Cathy McLeod, a Conservative who won comfortably in 2011 with 52 per cent of the vote.
Close to 20 people filled the United Church in 100 Mile House for Sundhu’s nomination meeting the morning of Aug. 9 – the first of three that day as the candidate also made stops in Clearwater and Kamloops.
In a wide-ranging speech, Sundhu talked about his family, life as a South Asian immigrant in the Cariboo, health care, education, worker’s rights, jobs, child poverty, the environment, First Nations, the split between urban and rural voters, politics, and the “ruthless and arrogant” government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
It is Sundhu’s first time running for public office. He is a former Provincial Court judge and formerly practised law in Williams Lake, where he grew up, and in 100 Mile House in the ’80s and ’90s.
Jobs and leadership are the two core issues he is campaigning on, he explains.
“We have a federal government under the Conservatives that’s arrogant, ruthless and out
of touch,” Sundhu says.
“From attacks on the judiciary, to disrespecting veterans, to muzzling scientists. I think Canadians want a more positive direction, a more respectful direction in their leaders.
“The other [issue] is good jobs and a fair economy. We have far too many part-time jobs. People are living paycheque to paycheque, and particularly in this region of the province, in the Interior, there have been a lot of losses in the forest industry.”
Sundhu admits the NDP has a lot of ground to make up to win an election here.
“But, here’s the thing, I believe the people I talked to want and deserve a stronger and more dynamic voice in Ottawa. They don’t want somebody that’s basically a rubber stamp for Harper. They want someone to represent their interests from these communities.”
The majority of voters in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding live in the City of Kamloops, but Sundhu says he will be “actively visiting” smaller communities, such as 100 Mile House, in the coming months, “earning each vote one by one, doorstep to doorstep.”
