The federal Green and Conservative parties have nominated their candidates to represent the the riding of Kootenay-Columbia, while the NDP and Liberals are still deciding.
Bill Green from Kimberley represented the Green Party in the 2011 federal election, and he’ll be taking another shot at the local riding again this year.
“I am really excited to be the Green Party candidate for the 2015 federal election and we are going to run a very strong campaign in the upcoming election,” he told The Valley Echo.
The Conservative candidate selection process was open to all members and resulted in the re-nomination by acclamation of current Kootenay-Columbia MP David Wilks.
“David Wilks is much more than a back-bencher,” said Dave Reeves, president of the Kootenay-Columbia Conservative Association in a press release, “now serving on several parliamentary committees, including Justice, where his RCMP background is so valuable.”
A spokesperson for the Liberal Party said that prospective candidates for the local riding are still being screened, but that the party will be ready with a candidate in every riding in the case of an early snap election.
Betty Aitchison, who represented the Liberals in the 2011 and 2008 elections, told The Valley Echo that she would not be running again.
The NDP will be holding their nomination event for the Kootenay-Columbia riding on Sunday, March 15th in Cranbrook. Mark Shmigelsky, who ran for the NDP in 2011 (and the Liberal Party in 1997) said he will not be running again. There is speculation that former Cranbrook mayor Wayne Stetski will earn the nomination.
Because of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, the Kootenay-Columbia riding will be expanding to include Nelson, Salmo, and Kaslo. Unless an election is called sooner, the 42nd Canadian federal election will be held on Monday, October 19th.
