Nominations are closed and the ballot is set. Kelowna-Lake Country voters will now have to make their choice from the roster of candidates vying for their support the 2020 B.C. election.
Below is a brief description of each candidate, ordered alphabetically by last name, who has been confirmed by Elections BC. Election day is Oct. 24.
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Kyle Geronazzo — BC Libertarian Party
Kyle Geronazzo will be representing the Libertarian Party in the Kelowna-Lake Country riding.
Previously, Geronazzo ran for the party in the 2018 by-election for Kelowna West — during which he said he discovered how ‘sick and tired’ people were of the current two-party system, which he said often leads people into choosing the ‘lesser of two evils’.
“I’m here to add another voice on the matter, an option that is not the ‘lesser’ of anything, but a real alternative.”
John Janmaat – BC Green Party
John Janmaat will run for the Green Party in Kelowna-Lake Country.
Janmaat is an associate professor of economics at UBC Okanagan. He was born in Chilliwack, where he grew up on a dairy farm. He is also chair of the Kelowna Agricultural Advisory Committee.
Janmaat is one of the executives for the Okanagan chapter of the Alpine Club of Canada, and ran the Boston Marathon in 2019, finishing in the top 10% for his age group
He has several degrees related to agriculture and economics.
Justin Kulik — BC NDP
Justin Kulik is making his second attempt at politics at just 19 years old, this time at the provincial level.
The UBC Okanagan student first looked for public office last year, when he ran for the NDP in the federal riding of the same name for Canada’s 2019 election in which he amassed just over 12 per cent of the vote.
Despite his young age, Kulik has been involved in many local political activities. His accolades include working as a coordinator for Fair Vote Canada, creating a petition to end food waste in supermarkets and participating in the BC Youth Parliament.
Norm Letnick — BC Liberal Party
Norm Letnick is vying for his fourth term in the legislature representing Kelowna-Lake Country.
Under the previous Liberal caucus, Letnick served as the official opposition’s health critic. Prior to that, he spent four years as the agriculture minister for the Christy Clark-led BC Liberal government.
He also served on city councils in both Kelowna and Banff and was a professor at Okanagan College.
Norm holds a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Calgary, a master of business administration from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, and achieved candidacy status for a PhD in health economics from the University of British Columbia.
Silverado Socrates — Independent
Silverado Socrates is again making a run at local office as an independent.
Socrates ran Mandy and Me riding stables in West Kelowna for many years before being forced to sell in 2015. She has also run in several different elections including the 2013 provincial by-election in the Kelowna West (formerly Westside-Kelowna) ran as an independent in the 2019 Canadian election in the federal Kelowna-Lake Country riding.
