Kelowna-area candidates make final push before election day
BC NDP Leader David Eby said Tuesday that Conservatives have taken the region for granted, arguing they cannot assume voters will automatically support them.
As the election approaches, candidates in Kelowna-Mission and Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream are making their final pitches to voters. Public safety, healthcare, affordability, and job creation are among the key issues.
In Kelowna-Mission, Conservative candidate Gavin Dew is aiming to keep the riding under Conservative control. He emphasizes healthcare and public safety as priorities. Dew intends to open 33,000 square feet of unused space at Kelowna General Hospital and mandates care at Okanagan Correctional Centre. Dew is competing against NDP candidate Miriam Rycroft, Green candidate Saoirse MacKinnon, and OneBC candidate Abraham Nordine.
The BC NDP Leader, David Eby, cautioned that Conservatives have overlooked the region in the past. Eby asserts that they must work harder to gain votes in this region. Dew disagreed with this assessment, criticizing the local NDP campaign for failing to show their candidate in Kelowna. Rycroft's photo is missing from the NDP campaign website's candidate biographies, and a drive through the riding reveals no NDP election signs promoting her candidacy.
In Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream, NDP candidate Binny Boparai is hoping to gain ground in a riding that has typically favored Conservatives. Boparai, a farmer and business owner, believes voters may be open to trying a different party. "I think people are ready to give a different party a shot because I'm the type of candidate that shows up and answers the tough questions," she said.
Boparai points to cost-of-living issues and job creation as crucial priorities, asserting that economic growth in the region could address many underlying problems. "If we have growth, economic growth in our region, that's going to bring on good jobs and that solves a lot of the other underlying issues," she said.
Conservative candidate Pavneet Singh, also a business owner, highlights homelessness and the economy as the main concerns in the riding. Singh recommends expanding natural resource development to create jobs and strengthen the provincial economy. He urges voters to reject another term of NDP rule, stating, "British Columbia cannot afford one more term of NDP."
Green candidate Carter Mochinski and OneBC candidate Alexandra Wright are also contesting in Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream.
Written by urgent.news from Global News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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