Dorval to face Foster in election

by Kate Bouey - CASTANET Mar 12, 2017 / 4:14 pm |

The NDP has finally chosen a candidate to run in the May 9 provincial election against Liberal MLA Eric Foster. Barry Dorval, an English teacher at W.L. Seaton Secondary School, was nominated at a meeting on Sunday. Dorval defeated Harwinder Sandhu, a nurse at Vernon Jubilee Hospital, to take the nomination. “My main concerns continue to be finding really decent employment, dealing with homelessness, education,” Dorval said the meeting. “A lot of provincial issues impact what is happening locally as well.” A former president of the Vernon Teachers Association, Dorval also questioned Foster's priorities when dealing with local issues. “My concern has been his ability to listen to what's happening here and reflect that back to Victoria rather than acting the other way where he's coming and representing Victoria to Vernon.” Sandhu also took a swipe at Foster, who has won the provincial seat in two elections. “He has failed on so many levels,” Sandhu said, a proponent of better health care and affordability for people in the Valley. “He has not done the job he should be doing.” Sandhu questioned the timing of the recently announced MRI machine – expected to be in place at Vernon Jubilee Hospital by 2018 – saying it was made just in time for the election. An official at the meeting said it looked like about 80 people were present, though it's not clear exactly how many voted, nor by how much Dorval won. The other official candidate in the riding is the Green Party’s Keli Westgate.