David Wilks, the MP for Kootenay-Columbia, has been nominated to stand as the Conservative Party candidate in the next federal election.
Wliks has served as the riding’s MP since he was elected in 2011. The next federal election is set for Oct. 15, 2015.
Wilks was the only one to apply for the position, said Dave Reeves, the president of the Kootenay-Columbia Conservative Riding Association.
The NDP will be choosing a candidate in the spring, said riding president John Chisamore.
The riding has been dominated by the Reform/Conservative party since 1993, when Jim Abbott was first elected. He served as MP until 2011, when he retired and was replaced by Wilks.
Wilks won in 2011 with 55.88 per cent of the vote, earning almost 10,000 more votes than runner-up Mark Shmigelsky of the NDP.
The ridings boundaries have since been expanded to include Nelson, Kaslo and Salmo, which are traditional NDP strongholds.
