I was dissappointed to see Thomas Muclair make a stop in Penticton September 1.
Not because the head of the NDP chose to go to Penticton, but rather because that is as close to the West Kootenay as he came, and likely will come.
I get that Thomas Muclair can’t make it to every community in the country, but his stop in Penticton and not the West Kootenay shows the problem with our new riding —when the politics of it all are measured, this part of the riding really doesn’t matter.
I am not blaming the NDP. I doubt we will see visits from Mr. Harper or Mr. Trudeau either.
I also see that Richard Cannings has opened an office in Castlegar. I am not sure if he was the first to open an office in West Kootenay, but a quick review of the websites of the three main candidates and only Cannings even lists a West Kootenay office.
I did contact the Liberal candidate and the PC candidate.
When I called the Liberal office, candidate Connie Denesiuk actually answered the phone and informed me that she opened her office in Trail long before she opened her Penticton office. I am not sure then why the Penticton office is the only one listed on her website?
I also contacted the PC candidate, Marshall Neufeld. He didn’t answer the phone but I was told by a volunteer that she “had no idea” if there was an office in the West Kootenay. She then gave me an email for someone else who would know. I did call the other number listed on the website and got a voicemail message saying I had contacted the Castlegar office for Marshall Neufeld, so I am assuming there is one, but again I have no idea why it isn’t listed on the website and why the people answering phones at the “main” office don’t even know if there is an office in the West Kootenay.
I hate to be the skeptical one in all of this, but I can’t help but feel like the West Kootenay is nothing more than a secondary thought in a long campaign where all of the candidates are from Penticton and thus so is all of the attention.
I hope I’m wrong, but so far the West Kootenay seems irrelevant in this new riding.
