‘NDP voice in Parliament is necessary’: Kelowna candidate Trevor McAleese

Apr 8, 2025 | 10:56 AM

When it comes to a passion for the cause and the quest to stand up for the downtrodden, Trevor McAleese, the New Democrat Party candidate for the Kelowna riding in this month’s federal election, appears to fit the bill.

The independent video game developer looks and sounds every part the common working person and the fighter for the marginalized that the party projects.

“I can speak truthfully from my lived experience of being somebody who is working class,” he told Vernon Matters.ca.” [I can ] genuinely relate to people who are also not in a position of wealth or living off investments.

“Even in the Okanagan, I’ve worked in agriculture picking and packing fruit, I’ve worked in restaurants washing dishes, I’ve done custodial work, I’ve been an educator at Okanagan College. Being able to approach someone [on the doorstep] and have you viewed as authentic because you are authentic, I think that’s vital.”

Trevor McAleese, NDP candidate Kelowna

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But McAleese is fully aware his personal relatability alone won’t go far enough in an election that appears to be a clear two-horse race between the Mark Carney Liberals and the Pierre Poilievre Conservatives, seeking to pick up gains under the all-pervasive dark cloud of the Trump tariff war. So how does he connect with voters on messaging?

“The first of many who come to mind are the seniors who are directly benefitting from the dental coverage they are now receiving through the Canada Dental Program,” he said, noting it’s a program that happened because the NDP held the balance of power in the last minority Parliament.

“I would like to think people who have benefitted from the Canada Dental Program, and those getting contraception, and diabetes medication coverage would be able to make that connection, that these things are the result of the NDP fighting for them.”

McAleese concedes the volume on these social gains has been turned down because of the urgency of the crisis of sovereignty and tariffs from the Trump White House, but adds his campaign is focused on reminding people about real domestic issues at home that can’t be ignored.

“We can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he explained. “My real fear is not only Poilievre leading a minority or majority government but also Mark Carney forming a majority with a pledge to balance the budget,” which McAleese says would be done by cutting spending on social programs like not expanding the in-demand national pharmacare scheme.

“Our challenge is to balance the need to have a strong response to the aggression from the United States…and taking care of our people here. We can’t allow Canadian workers and marginalized people, who are benefitting the most from these programs, [to be ignored]. We need to centre them as much as having this unified national response [to the tariffs].”

McAleese points to the 35 per cent of registered voters who did not cast a ballot in the last election in Kelowna and highlights it’s his job to bring some of those people onboard because so far, no one has resonated with them.

“The NDP is unique from the other parties in that we are quite prepared, and we have a track record of sticking our neck out for hard working families and for marginalized people who are the most beat on and abused and ignored,’ said.

“Our voice in Parliament is necessary to keep governments to account… and to force concessions from them that help everyone.”

by Glenn Hicks

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