Ashley Ramsey one-on-one

Over the next few weeks, Castanet News will feature each of the candidates seeking your vote in each of the four Central Okanagan ridings ahead of the Oct. 19 provincial election.

Today, we focus on unaffiliated, independent candidate Ashley Ramsey who is running in Kelowna-Mission.

Despite being new to a political campaign, former BC United and now unaffiliated independent candidate Ashley Ramsey says she is not new to politics.

During a one-on-one interview with Castanet News, Ramsey says over the past decade, she had the opportunity to sit on a number of provincial boards in a “non-paid capacity,” including the small business round table, Innovate BC, Accelerate Okanagan and the chancellor’s regional leadership round table which she still serves on.

Ramsey spoke on a number of topics leading up to the election. Some answers have been edited for brevity.

Independent Platform

“We did have amazing policy. What BC United and the centre-right true conservative lens brings is a nice, balanced approach. Free enterprise, conservative spending, get the budget balanced but also think about social issues.

“We will stand behind those policies but we can also offer our own policies which can be completely different from other parties.

“I think the really cool idea is we can get to round tables, go to the meetings, speak to the constituents and really understand what are the pacific needs of this community and how we can push forward.”

Issues

“Affordability. The day we announced the $50,000 tax cut, I decided to knock on doors. I was downtown and stopped at two particular doors.

“One woman, she opened the door, I said I’m Ashley and I’m running for MLA in your riding and did you hear about the new announcement and she just started crying. She said this is going to change my life. My partner and I can barely make it.”

She also highlighted crime and safety, addictions, health care and arts, culture and sports as other top priorities.

A New Era in Politics

“We (former BC United candidates) are all working separately but are all connected. We are supporting one another in this journey. We all have similar mindsets, we have experience in our community, we have all lived in our community for a long time and we have all done a lot of leadership in our community.

“We were all vetted and have gone through the 47-page document. The criminal record check and full scope of online and social media The process for me was four weeks.

“If you look at the Conservatives, there are some things coming to light about each of these candidates across the province that are - enlightening.

You can see the complete interview in the player above.