Terrace Mayor Sean Bujtas says he’s been approached to see if he’s interested in becoming a candidate in this fall’s provincial election.
For now, he’s not saying which provincial party has asked him or if more than one has contacted him.
With the provincial Conservatives already choosing former Kitimat municipal counsellor Claire Rattee for the provincial Skeena riding, that would leave the governing New Democrats and BC United, the official opposition in the provincial legislature, in search of a candidate.
“It’s a very big decision to make, one that I don’t think a person should make on their own,” Bujtas said April 17.
“I think your family needs to be involved and I’m still discussing that with my family.
“It’s a large sacrifice to be in provincial politics. You spend a lot of time away from home and I’ve got a young family.”
Bujtas was acclaimed as the Terrace mayor in 2022 after a first election as a city councillor in 2014 and a re-election in 2018.
Bujtas has been considering a move to provincial politics for some time and at first said his priority was to successfully negotiate money from the provincial government through the Northwest B.C. Resource Benefits Alliance.
The alliance was formed in 2014 in a bid to have the provincial government share the tax revenue it gets from large industrial projects in the region.
It argued that while local governments bear the financial impact of those projects they are mostly outside of the taxation jurisdiction of local governments.
The province first provided $150 million in 2019 and 2020 outside of the alliance concept but this spring announced the 21 local government members of the alliance would share $50 million a year for five years.
Although not directly involved with the alliance at the beginning, Bujtas became one of three co-chairs after becoming mayor and that brought him into direct contact by lobbying provincial officials.
“I think I’ve worked really hard for this community and I’ve been part of a lot of big things that have happened here,” he said.
“It takes a team to get things done and I think the teams have done it.
“But it’s been a good feeling to be a part of the team that lobbied to get a hospital built in Terrace and it felt good to be a part of the team that lobbied for the resource benefits alliance.”
While Bujtas said he has learned that a municipal politician has to be apolitical in dealing with senior governments to obtain the best results, he adds that a lot of the issues facing the region are better solved in Victoria and Ottawa and not actually at a city council table.
He said he will be making a decision very soon.
There is no incumbent in this fall’s election in the Skeena riding because BC United MLA Ellis Ross, first elected in 2017 and again in 2020, is leaving provincial politics to run as a federal Conservative candidate in the Skeeena-Bulkley Valley riding.
For her part, Rattee, the provincial Conservative candidate for the Skeena riding, has made two unsuccessful bids to become a Conservative MP for the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding.
The provincial New Democrats and the BC United party are both still looking for candidates.
The provincial election is Oct. 19.