PARKSVILLE — Liberal leader Christy Clark rallied support for star candidate Michelle Stilwell in the battleground riding of Parksville-Qualicum on Tuesday, urging voters to elect the gold-medal Paralympic athlete because she’ll change the way politics is done in Victoria.
“If there is anyone in British Columbia who represents perseverance, determination, a willingness to overcome any obstacle, an ability to dream big despite all the things that people tell you are impossible, if there is anybody in this province who represents that, it is Michelle Stilwell,” Clark said.
The Liberal leader visited Stilwell’s campaign office in Parksville before talking to voters outside a grocery store and pet shop.
She praised Stilwell, who is also a motivational speaker and mother of an 11-year-old boy with autism, for having principles that aren’t swayed by politics or polls.
“You have nominated a candidate in this riding that is going to make everyone in this province so proud,” Clark told supporters. “You have nominated someone who stands for something. You have nominated a woman here who is the kind of person who is going to change the way we all think about politics.”
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Clark’s glowing praise comes as Stilwell fights a tough three-way battle against an NDP candidate who has been campaigning for more than a year, and a Conservative who is a doctor in a riding with a high concentration of seniors keenly interested in health-care issues.
Asked if she feels pressure to hold the seat for the Liberals, the 38-year-old wheelchair athlete — the only female Paralympic athlete to have won gold in two separate summer sport events — had a quick reply: “I do really well under pressure.”
“My biggest struggle going forward is most people just see me as the Paralympic gold medallist,” she said in an interview.
“There’s a heck of a lot more to me than that. My life experience and upbringing make me an excellent choice to be MLA.”
A key issue in the riding is the $16.9-million Oceanside Health Centre, set to open in phases starting June 24.
The centre will provide urgent care 15 hours a day, as well as primary and community care to 46,000 people. But some in the community wanted a 24-hour emergency facility so residents wouldn’t have to travel to Nanaimo to go to a hospital.
“I think it’s going to be what the community needs to serve its needs,” Clark said. Stilwell agreed.
Conservative candidate David Coupland, a Nanaimo radiologist, said the facility is a good start, but that he has the experience to work with health-care professionals to get the resources the community truly needs.
Being a doctor is a “huge advantage” in his grassroots campaign, Coupland said. The B.C. Conservatives are seen as having strong support in Parksville-Qualicum, Coupland said, and voters are tired of the Liberals and NDP.
NDP candidate Barry Avis, a former Qualicum Beach councillor, said he has been working hard for a year and a half on his campaign. He also said he would work with doctors to improve the Oceanside Health Centre, because the community is tired of the Liberals.
