Sharon Fraser has been on council for 28 years and “loved every minute of it.”
Fraser will be celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary this year and has raised two sons in Sparwood.
She moved here when Sparwood was first being developed.
“When Sparwood developed, it just seemed like it was going to have a bright future,” said Fraser, “and so far even with the ups and downs with the mines, I still see that. I love it here, I love this community.”
She notes that she feels she can bring a sense of fairness by looking at both sides of the issue to council.
“It’s difficult at times, but that’s why they put you there and you do the best you can with it,” she explained.
Like other incumbent candidates running, Fraser feels that there are many unfinished things in the district that she wants to see through.
She cites the new hotel going up as a huge project as well as the PNH building, which will be a big mine equipment supplier, as two prevalent projects she wants to be on council to follow through to the end.
She adds that the extension on the Lilac Terrace senior housing centre which will add several new apartments and palliative and respite care rooms as a project very near and dear to her heart and hopes that Sparwood will have more independent housing for seniors in the future.
Fraser hopes that the District of Sparwood will have a better voter turn out for this year’s election than in year’s past.
“I hope that enough people come out to vote and they take an interest in this election. If everybody exercised their right to vote it would be a wonderful thing,” said Fraser. “That way you have a true feeling that this is what the community wants, not what a small but vocal minority wants.”
She notes that if she is not re-elected she hopes that some of the other current councillors do.
“Continuity is important,” she said. “There’s so much for the new council to learn and I think that if there’s some of the old councillors there that have been there since the inception of everything, it can only do some good. Whether I’m among them or not.”