FORT ST. JOHN -- The campaign to recall the MLA for Peace River North has failed.
Wayne Bell from Cecil Lake is the man behind the recall. He failed to even submit the petition by the April 4th deadline.
Elections B.C. approved the petition to recall Dan Davies back in January. A total of 23 voters were registered as canvassers to collect signatures.
Bell claimed Davies voted in favor of Bill 36, which overhauls the province’s system of professional colleges for healthcare workers.
However, the Liberal caucus voted against Bill 36 on the third reading, and Davies was not present for the vote. Bill 36 was passed in the legislature in November of 2022 without much fanfare.
It has been the subject of criticism from healthcare workers who have taken issue with the law’s changes to the administration of professional colleges, as well as what they called a lack of consultation before the bill was passed into law.
Bell claims the bill takes away doctor’s rights and that a 5-year-old can now go to a doctor’s office and get hormones to start a gender transition. In fact, the bill has no such provision.
Bell also says Davies has failed to meet with him and a group of “concerned citizens” that he is part of.
“I’ve been gone quite a bit, and when they’ve had their town hall meeting or when they’ve been here and said they wanted to meet with me, I wasn’t here,” said Davies. “And that’s the life of an MLA.”
Bell is also against COVID-19 mandates and blames Davies for encouraging masking and vaccinations.
Bell had two months to get 40% of Peace River North voters to sign -- which is just over 10,000 people.
29 recall petitions have been issued since the recall and initiative act came into force in 1995. None have been successful.
