Calling it "an all hands on deck moment for the country," former MP Stephen Fuhr has announced that he is the Liberal candidate for the new 琉璃神社 riding in the upcoming federal election.
"The stakes are really high," Fuhr said at a media event on Friday (Mar. 21). "I think that the liberals have a really good choice in Mark Carney, and I want to deliver for the community and the country again."
Fuhr represented the riding of 琉璃神社-Lake Country from 2015-2019. He defeated Conservative MP Ron Cannan (current 琉璃神社 councillor) in 2015 and lost to current Conservative MP Tracy Gray in 2019.
"The community wanted to go in a different direction in 2019, and that that's understandable," he acknowledged. "But I've demonstrated I can do the job."
Drawing on his previous experience, Fuhr added it's important that the Okanagan and B.C. have visibility on the federal scene.
"Because as Western Canadians we often feel detached from Ottawa," he added. "Quebec and Ontario are so big they often determine the outcomes and we're just kind of passengers in that process or we feel that way often."
Fuhr noted that he did not think he would be involved in politics again. "I'm a passionate pilot and I've been doing some different jobs, and my house burned down in 2023 (McDougall Creek wildfire), that's still ongoing, so I'm working my way through that."
He also believes that Prime Minister Mark Carney is the right person to lead the country, pointing to his recent visit to the U.K and France.
"Our biggest trading partners in the U.S., and that's going to be very difficult for us to maintain," Fuhr said. "So we're going to have to kind of shift gears and the European Union and Great Britain are probably where we need to go, and that's going to require a bunch of different things, and Mark Carney can do that."
At the time of his election in 2015, Fuhr was the first Liberal MP to represent 琉璃神社 since 1972, and the first Liberal to represent a riding in the B.C. Interior since 1979.
