The Nanaimo riding officially has an MLA in place again.
Sheila Malcolmson of the NDP was sworn in as Nanaimo MLA at a ceremony this morning at the B.C. legislature.
Malcolmson took the member’s oath of allegiance and signed the parliamentary roll in a short ceremony officiated by acting clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd.
Malcolmson was joined by members of Snuneymuxw First Nation, with Chief Mike Wyse drumming and saying a few words.
Wyse said the Snuneymuxw are happy to see Malcolmson’s success in taking on her new role and said the First Nation has “walked with” her for more than a decade.
“We’ve created a bond that we’re very optimistic we’re going to move forward together in a good way,” Wyse said.
Ryan-Lloyd said the parliamentary roll is an historic document that every member of the legislative assembly has signed since 1917 and said the oath expresses allegiance to the crown and to parliamentary democracy.
“By making this oath today, Sheila is undertaking a call to public service; a call which will require her dedication, her passion and her courage,” Ryan-Lloyd said.
After the ceremony, Malcolmson talked to reporters about moving from federal to provincial politics.
“It’s an opportunity to implement the values that New Democrats bring to governance…” she said. “Right now we’ve got a provincial government that’s ready to invest in education, health care, build affordable housing, stand up and protect the coast, all things I’ve been trying to do for the last 15 years.”
-with files from Tom Fletcher/Black Press
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