Candidates from left to right: Liberal Terry Lake, Incumbent Conservative Cathy McLeod, Iain Currie for the Greens, Ken Finlayson of the People's Party of Canada, Kira Cheeseborough of the Animal Protection Party of Canada and Peter Kerek of the Communist Party of Canada.
(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)
September 13, 2019 - 11:00 AM
You'll find all of our election coverage for the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding in one post — this one. There will be stories, plenty of them. But we want you to have one space to come for background information and changes as they roll out. We also want you to tell us when you have questions you want to have answered. Leave them on this post and we will offer them to our candidates as the campaign rolls out.
A REVIEW OF THE RIDING
Prior to Cathy McLeod taking over as MP in 2008, Betty Hinton was the MP in this riding as of 2000, making history as the first woman elected in the region.
Before the wave of blue was a 20-year orange streak. From 1980 until 2000, Nelson Riis served as the New Democratic Party leader for the riding then known as the Kamloops-Thomspon-Highland Valleys. The NDP dominated the Kamloops - Shuswap riding throughout the 1980s, claiming the seat in three elections.
When McLeod was re-elected as the MP in 2015, she won the election with 35 per cent of the vote.
According to the 2016 census, 124,358 people lived within the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding, up by more than 5,700 from the 2011 census. The average annual household income in 2015 was $85,087, below the B.C. average of $90,354 for the same year.
READ MORE: Election 2019: Voters Toolkit
READ MORE: How your candidates feel about drug decriminalization
READ MORE: The personal obstacles of Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo candidates
READ MORE: Do the parties agree with one another at all?
READ MORE: Each candidate's take on abortion
READ MORE: Biggest issues in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding
According to a census used by the B.C. Community Health Profile for the Kamloops Health Area in 2016, the majority of the population in the area is between the ages of 45 and 64.
The document shared for the Kamloops Health Area shows the majority of those who live here are caucasian, with 8.2 per cent of the population made up of visible minorities, and 9.8 per cent of the population being indigenous people. In 2016, 1.2 per cent of the population was comprised of new immigrants.
A map showing the federal electoral district of the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding.
Image Credit: Elections Canada
WHO ARE YOU?
This riding has a total population of nearly 125,000 people, according to Elections Canada.
Nearly three-quarters of the population lives in the City of Kamloops and this city has a diverse economy for cities compared to its size.
The four largest industries for employment are healthcare, retail trade, accommodation and food services and construction, according to an economic impact study published by Venture Kamloops in 2018.
Kamloops’ local labour force has a population of approximately 54,000 people.
CHANGES
The Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo has been a historically European majority at 66 percent. The population of Kamloops is mainly English speaking. Immigrants make up just over 10 per cent of the population, according to 2016 report from Venture Kamloops.
Italian, German and Punjabi, respectively, are the most accounted for groups.
From 2011 to 2016, the population growth in the city of Kamloops was 3.3 per cent.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
As six candidates are vying for a chance to be the member of parliament for the Kamloops-Thompson Cariboo riding, voters should know where each candidate stands on the issues that matter to them.
Climate change, pipeline expansions, reconciliation with indigenous people and helping rural communities that continue to lack adequate resources seem to be some of the common issues that come up among candidates.
CANDIDATES
This riding features some well-known local names including two-time incumbent MP Cathy McLeod and Liberal star candidate Terry Lake for the Liberals. While the NDP remains off the ballot, Iain Currie for the Green Party is a well-known lawyer.
Ken Finlayson
Finlayson is the Peoples Party of Canada candidate for the riding. He had previously run as an independent candidate in the 2017 byelection in Saskatchewan’s Battlefords-Lloydminster riding. He finished fourth with five per cent of the vote.
Although he now owns a ranch in Lac La Hache, Finlayson is from North Battleford, Saskatchewan. His family has lived there for six generations, according to his website.
“We got there just after the Indians did,” reads a statement from Finlayson posted on his candidate profile.
A moment that’s been remembered is his 2015 stint to protest the niqab. Finlayson covered his face with a bandana and cowboy hat to an Edmonton voting station for the 2015 federal election.
HOMEPAGE - TWITTER
Iain Currie
Currie worked for 18 years as a crown prosecutor before becoming the Kamloops-Thomspon-Cariboo Green Party candidate.
Running with the Green Party shows Currie’s values of a greener future, and he references sustainability, carbon neutrality, and economic prosperity on his website.
Currie was one of the last Kamloops-Thomspon-Cariboo candidates to be named.
Matthew Greenwood, the president of the local Green Party riding association, says in a news release that Currie was the only person vying for the position who completed his entire application.
HOMEPAGE - TWITTER
Kira Cheeseborough
Kira Cheeseboroughis running for MP with the Animal Protection Party. The vegan activist has also spent time working with A Way Home Kamloops, where she is the chair of Youth Against Youth Homelessness and co-chair of Employment and Education.
She is the most recent candidate to join the race and the youngest. Her candidacy was announced on Instagram on Sep. 6 by the Animal Protection Party of Canda.
The Animal Alliance Party was formally known as the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada. 2005 and has Toronto resident Liz White as the leader.
HOMEPAGE - TWITTER
Peter Kerek
Peter Kerek is the Communist candidate for the riding. The Kamloops native has twice been the president of Kamloops & District Labour Council.
Kerek believes the needs of the people should come before the needs of corporations.
“Capitalism remains reliant on institutionalized poverty, hunger, underemployment, unemployment, exploitation and desperation. I am the only candidate in my riding to be fighting for an end to all these social and economic ailments," reads a statement on Kerek’s website.
HOMEPAGE - TWITTER
Terry Lake
Terry Lake is one to watch for in this election. Lake has served as the MLA for the Kamloops-North Thompson, as well as Kamloops city councillor and mayor.
In addition to local politics, Lake served as the B.C. Environment Minister from 2011 to 2013. In the 2013 election, he was named being named Health Minister, which he carried out until 2017.
He became the vice president of one of Canada’s largest cannabis-producing companies, Hexo Crop.
According to Lake’s website, he is a “Champion for the middle class and everyone working hard to join it.”
HOMEPAGE - TWITTER
Cathy McLeod
The longstanding MP was one of the first to put her name forward and like many of the other candidates, MP Cathy McLeod has a lot to say about the issues that she wants to bring into the limelight during this election.
“The 2019 election is right around the corner. Many have asked me to continue to my work representing our region and see unfinished business,” she said back in October.
She notes the building of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion is an important piece of business she wants to see finished.
“I’m very concerned about the way (the current government) spends money without any consideration of how hard it is for tapxpayers,” she said. “I don’t think our international relationships have ever been so bad, I don’t think our interprovincial relationships have ever been so bad.”
HOMEPAGE - TWITTER
Cynthia Egli
Egli was the third NDP candidate named for the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding, and the last to join the race.
Two NDP candidates have dropped out of the federal race in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo this year.
Her working history includes counselling and mediating for family justice, as well as co-owning a small business. As a member of the NDP, Egli is calling for reforms to the healthcare system, including drug and dental coverage for low-income Canadians. Also on her radar is the issue of afforadable housing and climate action.
HOMEPAGE - TWITTER
To contact a reporter for this story, email Karen Edwards or call (250) 819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2019