It has now been a year since Doug Clovechok (BC Liberals) was elected as the MLA for Columbia River Revelstoke, and he says the while he would no longer consider himself a rookie, the learning curve is a steep one.
But it’s a role he is enjoying immensely.
“It took me 60 years to find a real job,” he joked, speaking with the Bulletin from the Vancouver Airport as he waited for another flight back to the riding. “Fourteen and a half hour days are standard. The learning curve continues to be steep but I am feeling more confident with protocols and processes.”
In the past year, amidst all the turmoil of his party winning the election, then losing the confidence of the Legislature, and giving up governing to the NDP/Green agreement, Clovechok has managed to open offices in Revelstoke and Kimberley, and talked to a lot of constituents.
“We’ve solved a lot of problems for a lot of people and that’s the highlight of the work for me — the work you can do in the riding.
“I didn’t make many promises while campaigning, but we did promise to improve the communication process, and we’ve done that. People know how to get hold of us.
“Helping people find their way through issues, I really enjoy it.”
The Legislature will break for the summer and beyond in a few weeks — it won’t resit until October.
In that time, Clovechok has a lot of travelling to do in his role as critic for Tourism and the Arts. And he will also be doing a lot of work trying to educate people on the upcoming proportional representation vote.
Clovechok is vehemently against it, saying that if you look around the world at countries that use a form of it, it does not work.
“You’d have a massive riding stretching from the Okanagan into Columbia River Revelstoke, and the MLA is appointed by the Party, not elected. So theoretically, the people of Columbia River Revelstoke wouldn’t have someone who lives here and understands the issues representing this riding, but someone picked by the Party. It could be someone from Vancouver Island.”
Clovechok is also concerned that the wording of the question has yet to be released.
“We believe that NDP members have had a look at it so they can prepare for it but we haven’t. That’s not fair.”
But despite all that, Clovechok remains enthusiastic about his role as MLA.
“It’s an all-consuming job,” he said. “I’m still very honoured to have been elected, and as excited as I was on election day.”
