Eric Foster thanks Vernon voters for lengthy tenure as representative

After serving the community for 11 years, former Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster hands the reins to the NDP's Harwinder Sandhu.

In a back-and-forth battle for the riding's seat, Foster fell just 424 votes shy of securing a fourth term. Foster led after Election Day by 180 votes, but the 8,521 mail-in ballots swung the election over to Sandhu.

"I'm a little disappointed for sure, we had hoped to have a different result," says Foster. "But it's not the way it worked out."

Foster is a long-time politician, serving as a councillor and mayor of Lumby before running provincially in 2009. Even though defeat wasn't the outcome he wanted, he says he and his wife will be taking a much-needed break.

"I've been at this a long time and Janice and I are ready to take a little bit of a rest," he says. "But we're certainly not going away, I'll stay involved in the community and continue to do volunteer work."

Foster was gracious in transferring his seat over to Sandhu, offering her congratulations and luck over the next four years.

"I had a nice chat with her this morning and congratulated her, and she's got a real exciting next four years," he says. "She deserves it."

Foster reflected on his tenure as MLA for the Vernon-Monashee riding, which spanned over a decade of service.

"It's one of those things where you wake up every morning and say 'Boy, how lucky am I,'" he says.

"There have been lots of highlights, but the real highlight is helping people each day. You don't get on TV for that or cut ribbons for it, but that is what the job is all about and it has been an honour to do it."