
Ward Stamer recording a campaign video in his Barriere office during his unsuccessful bid for the federal Conservative Party nomination in 2021/via Facebook
A nearly 30 year career in local politics for the new MLA-elect for Kamloops-North Thompson has come to an end, at least for the time being.
Ward Stamer has officially resigned as the Mayor of Barriere, informing the District council of his long-planned move during the Monday evening meeting.
Stamer had already been on a formal leave of absence since early September to focus on his push for a seat in Victoria, and had pledged during the campaign to resign as Barriere’s Mayor if his provincial bid was successful.
Stamer began his time in Barriere politics in the mid-90’s, starting out as an elected member of the Barriere Improvement District before being voted in as one of the original District councillors following Barriere’s incorporation in 2007.
“It was 1996 when I got elected, first on to the Improvement District. Back then, it was garbage, street lights and water. That was my very first start,” noted Stamer. “I just kept going through that. Joined the Fire Department committee as well.”
Saying he has mixed emotions about leaving local politics behind for the provincial scene, Stamer suggests Barriere has seen some significant improvements during his time as an elected official in the community.
“We’ve got a really good water system that has lots of room for expansion. We’ve got substantial sewar improvements that are coming up. We’ve got a really good staff that does an awesome job. And we have no debt,” noted Stamer, who also admits there have been some challenges for the community during his time in local politics as well.
“We’ve had a couple of curve balls at us when the mill burned down, then tried to get an industrial park in there. Basically no funds to do it, and just slowly progress our way through,” said Stamer.
Ward Stamer was first elected as the Mayor of Barriere in 2018, and kept the position after being acclaimed in 2022.
He holds the distinction of being only Mayor of the District of Barriere to make it into a second term, as the previous incumbents were all defeated after their first term in office.
Stamer says he does have someone on the District council that he would like to see run and replace him in the Mayor’s chair.
However, he says he won’t publicly endorse that person until they make their intentions public.
A date for a by-election Barriere has not been set, with District councillor Rob Kerslake to continue his role as the acting Mayor until a by-election is organized, which won’t take place until sometime next year.
Kerslake took over the acting-Mayor’s position when Stamer began his official leave on September 3rd to focus on the provincial election.