Local Community Advertising
Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick is interested in becoming Kelowna's next Mayor but he denies there's a deal in the works to swap roles with Colin Basran to pull it off.
"There's no deal," said Letnick in an interview with KelownaNow.
The suggestion that Letnick could leave his role as MLA so that Basran could run in a by-election, while Letnick seeks the Mayor's office was suggested by columnist Marshall Jones.
But Letnick said he'll make his decision independently of what the current Mayor decides to do in the next municipal election.
"If the people tell me they want me to run for Mayor then I'm sure there will be all kinds of candidates running," he said. "and that could include Colin if he wishes to run again."
Letnick said a growing number of people have been asking him if he would be interested in running for mayor.
"My honest answer is yes," he said. "I'm going to go and ask the community. There's a year before the next election. And that's why I came out to the public now."
After 21 years in public office including 9 years on municipal councils and 12 years as an MLA, Letnick said he has the energy and passion to continue in a different role.
"I'm open to the idea," he said. And unlike Basran, Letnick would enter the Mayor's race with little to lose.
"If I lose I continue as the MLA," said Letnick.
"If the people tell me Norm, we really want you to run for Mayor well then I'll seriously consider that."
Letnick was first elected as an MLA in 2009 and served four years as Minister of Agriculture, but he was excluded from Cabinet after the following election.
He served as a city councillor in Kelowna between 2005 to 2009 and as a town councillor in Banff in the 1990s.
The next provincial election could come as late as October of 2024, while the next municipal elections are in November of next year.
Local Community Advertising