It was the spring of 2009 and Doug Brown was in the midst of a very close race to become an MLA.
The Kamloops-North Thompson NDP candidate was neck-and-neck with Terry Lake on election night.
By the time the votes were counted, Brown finished behind the former Kamloops mayor and current environment minister.
In the nearly 20 months since that balmy May night, Brown has slipped back into relative anonymity. He is still working as a private consultant to First Nations organizations, specifically as an administrator for the Simpcw First Nation near Barriere.
Brown is also in the process of transitioning to a part-time gig teaching at the university level.
However, politics never strays far from the mind of the Kamloops resident, nor do the results of the 2009 provincial election.
“I wish there had been another outcome,” he told KTW. “I probably would have found an election victory to have been an interesting and exciting experience in my life, but we can’t always get what we want.”
Brown finished with 9,320 votes on election night, but ended 510 votes short of Lake’s 9,830.
He also finished second to former MLA Claude Richmond in the old Kamloops riding in 2005.
Brown, who still sits on the executive of the Kamloops-North Thompson NDP constituency association, said he tries not to get too nostalgic about his runs for office, adding he has moved on with the rest of his life and is more concerned with taking care of himself and his family.
He also has no regrets, calling his campaign a “worthwhile endeavour.”
And, at 68 years of age, Brown doesn’t expect a return to politics.
“In politics, you never say never, but I’m not going to go around trying to invent reasons why I should get back into politics,” he said.
Instead, Brown urges young people, especially women, to get involved in politics and carry on the torch.
– Kamloops This Week