Petition to recall Okanagan MLA Tara Armstrong going to Election BC next week

It’s been a year of consistent controversy from Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong, while the work to recall her from office is picking up steam.

Recall petitions can begin 18 months after a provincial election and that date is April 20, just one week away and a motivated group of volunteers are ready to go.

The controversy surrounding Armstrong began with her departure from the BC Conservative Party after she was elected under its banner and most recently her effort to repeal the BC Human Rights Code.

Wilbur Turner, one of Armstrong’s constituents and a well-known political activist, is leading the recall campaign to get her out of office and he told iNFOnews.ca they have everything pretty well lined up and ready to go.

“We do have our application form filled out, ready to submit on the 20th of April to Elections BC. We’re also currently just finalizing a contract on some office space for the campaign where we’ll have volunteers working to manage things as well as a central spot for people to come and sign the petition once it’s approved,” he said.

B.C. is one of the only provinces with legislation that allows electors to remove a politician, and it isn’t an easy process.

After the petition application is submitted to Elections BC and approved, the campaign will have 60 days to collect more than 18,000 signatures in person from people who were registered to vote in the 2024 provincial election in the riding of Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream.

Turner said while they will be making the recall petition application next week, it could take some time for Elections BC to process and approve it. Only then will canvassers be able to collect signatures.

Armstrong’s list of controversies is long. She didn’t go to her all-candidates forum or answer questions on the campaign trail, she left the BC Conservatives to support a fellow MLA who mocked residential school survivors, she started her own party which included a pay raise for herself, and introduced numerous bills targeting minorities.

As a result, Turner said people from across the political spectrum want her removed.

“I’ve talked to quite a number of conservative voters who are appalled at her behaviour and want her out. And this is widespread across the community,” he said.

He said Armstrong has been absent from her constituency, she doesn’t respond to questions from people in her riding herself and instead gets her staff to answer to criticism from her electors and that response is often political and defensive.

“When you consider that office staff generally are there to serve the constituents, it’s not a partisan job. It seems kind of odd,” he said. “It seems very unprofessional and also quite arrogant.”

The recall campaign is looking for donations to pay for office space, phones, outreach and other costs.

Armstrong did not respond to a request from iNFOnews.ca for comment.