Photo courtesy of Elections B.C.

By Liam Verster

Provincial Election

Provincial parties still determining potential candidates for Vernon, North Okanagan

Oct 16, 2023 | 5:00 AM

With the provincial election just a year away, political parties are still working out whose names will be on the ballots.

The region has been divided into new electoral areas for the upcoming election: the Vernon-Lumby and the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream ridings.

BC NDP MLA Harwinder Sandhu, the incumbent for the current Vernon-Monashee, told Vernon Matters in January that she would seek a second term.

However, she was unavailable for comment prior to publication of this article and had not provided an update on her stance on running again. The BC NDP also were unable to provide an update on those seeking the candidacy for the Vernon-Lumby riding.

BC United (BCU / formerly BC Liberals) has not officially disclosed its potential candidates, though two people are known to be seeking the nomination for the Vernon-Lumby riding.

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Kevin Acton, mayor of Lumby and chair of the Regional District of North Okanagan, announced his bid for the BCU candidate, as has Dauna Kennedy, executive director of the Vernon Public Art Gallery.

The Conservative Party of BC and the BC Greens have not said who are in the running to be the candidates for Vernon-Lumby.

Norm Letnick, the four-term incumbent BC United MLA for the existing Kelowna-Lake Country riding, previously announced his retirement from politics and that he would not be seeking re-election.

The BC Greens are the sole party to have announced their representative for the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding, with Stephanie Hendy’s name set to appear on the ballot.

Vernon Matters has confirmed one name in the running for the BC United candidacy. Amanda Shatzko, RDNO Area C (BX/Swan Lake) Director and RDNO vice chair, has announced that she was in the running to be the BCU representative. The other candidates who have announced a run are Binny Boparai (agricultural entrepreneur), Bal Grewal (former Kelowna city council candidate), Mohini Singh (current Kelowna city councillor) and Adam Wilson (consultant).

Singh dropped out of the race over the weekend, telling media, “the race has become unnecessarily divisive and difficult for me to navigate.”

The Conservative Party of BC and the BC NDP were not able to tell Vernon Matters when they would have information on the candidate for the riding representing Coldstream, Lake Country and the north end of Kelowna.

None of the provincial parties would confirm with Vernon Matters the time lines for selecting their candidates due to privacy concerns.

The next provincial election is scheduled for October 2024.