Kamloops candidate profiles: BC Liberals’ Stone and Milobar

Apr 27, 2017 | 5:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — The B.C. Liberals have two seasoned politicians in the race for MLA.

One is facing his second provincial election, while the other has successfully run for municipal government multiple times.

WATCH: Jill Sperling introduces us to B.C. Liberal candidates Todd Stone and Peter Milobar

The BC Liberals have held the Kamloops ridings for more than 15 years, most recently with the duo of Terry Lake and Todd Stone, who worked closely over the past four years. 

However, with Lake choosing not to run for re-election, there’s a new hopeful vying for the vote. 

“That was part of my motivation,” said Kamloops-North Thompson liberal candidate Peter Milobar, “to continue working with Todd, much like him and Terry had done to make sure we have a cohesive team that’s really pulling together for the betterment of the whole city, as well as the region.”

Milobar served as mayor for three terms, and was chair of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District for Five years. 

He feels he is up for the challenge of provincial politics. 

“Both being mayor, as well as being chair of the Regional District for that five years I think gives you that broader perspective around the whole riding,” he said, “and it is a very large geographic diverse riding in terms of rural and urban, but it also gave you that perspective of much like you have to do with the province in terms of there’s the regional priority, but you also have to put that into a provincial context.”

Todd Stone has the benefit of being the only candidate in either riding to have been through a provincial election. But last election he was in the same position as Milobar, running his first campaign. 

“It’s a different arena, it’s a different set of issues,” Stone said. “The intensity may be a bit higher than what he might be used to on council, but the work ethic that’s required, the energy that’s required, he’s going to be just fine.”

Stone says he’s not taking anything for granted in his second campaign. 

“I have thoroughly enjoyed having the privilege of representing the people of Kamloops-South Thompson for the last four years,” Stone said. “I think we’ve accomplished a lot by working together. There’s a lot more to do. I want to continue the momentum with jobs, I want to make sure we’re continuing to see the investments in healthcare that we need in Kamloops. I want to make sure we’re putting the services in place that  people need in Kamloops and surrounding area.”

That momentum is something Milobar wants to help sustain, but he’ll have to wait for May 9 to find out if T&T becomes T&P, or something entirely different. 

“Frankly all you can control is your own hard work,” Stone said. “Our team is working very, very hard taking nothing for granted. We’re going to earn every single vote, one person at a time.”