Adam Wilson may be seeking the B.C. Liberal nomination for the new Kelowna Centre riding.

Image Credit: Submitted/AdamWilson.com

The ink is not yet quite dry on plans to expand the Kelowna area into four provincial electoral ridings but local B.C. Liberals are already working on who their candidates will be.

The next election has to be called by Oct. 19, 2024 at the latest.

Liberals aren’t saying it’s a sure thing that a Liberal will win the seat but, given the history of the area, the Liberal candidate is almost assured of victory.

“Everybody has been out there looking for the best possible candidates so we can have an exciting nomination race so the members of the party can select their preferred candidate to represent Kelowna Center in the next provincial election,” Kelowna Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick told iNFOnews.ca.

He will lose part of his riding to Kelowna Centre but gain Coldstream, which will be added to the riding name.

READ MORE: Kelowna to get another riding under proposed changes

One potential candidate comes from B.C. Liberal and federal Conservative backrooms.

“I’m exploring all options,” Adam Wilson told iNFOnews.ca. “A lot of people have come to me and told me I should consider running. As of this point, Norm Letnick is still our MLA and he hasn’t made any announcements and, technically, there is no new riding until the redistribution is completed some time in the next month. Right now I’m just listening to people.”

B.C. electoral ridings are reevaluated after every second election. The Electoral Boundaries Commission issued its final report earlier this week that calls for the creation of a Kelowna Centre riding and a redrawing of boundaries for the other three existing ridings.

That now has to go through the legislature and is expected to be approved by the end of the current session in mid-May, Letnick said.

Wilson grew up in Kelowna and, most recently, served as campaign manager for Tom Dyas in his successful bid to become Kelowna mayor last fall.

His website says he’s an urban planner, columnist and health care professional. He works as government relations director for the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

But his political roots run deep, including his university days at McGill University where he was president of the Conservative Students’ Association.

In 2016 he worked as Quebec youth chair of Kellie Leitch’s campaign for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party. She finished sixth out of 14 candidates in a race won by Andrew Scheer.

Wilson has, and does, serve as a consultant in a number of areas. He says he does provide advice to Dyas but is not paid for that work.

He is paid by Kelowna Lake Country MP Tracy Gray, a Conservative.

Gray’s expense reports show Wilson was first paid $1,500 in Dec. 2021 as a “subject matter expert.” He’s been paid that amount every quarter since but is now referred to as communications officer.

“It’s not actually political stuff,” Wilson said. “I design her constituency ads when they go in the paper. It’s a lot of graphic design work.”

Gray spends $25,000 to $45,000 each quarter on contracts that include a wide range of items from consulting to advertising so Wilson's work makes up only a small part of those expenses.

In terms of when local Liberal candidates will be chosen is up to the provincial party, Letnick said.

Some time after the riding changes become official the party will direct affected ridings to form new riding associations and, some time after that, let them know when to hold nomination meetings, Letnick said.

The three Kelowna Liberal riding associations work closely together and they all held their annual general meetings a couple of weeks ago in separate meeting rooms in the Capri Hotel, Letnick said.

The AGMs were required even though the associations won’t exist much longer and the executives will be keeping busy working on the party’s three M’s: message, members and money, Letnick said.

Wilson, though he won’t yet declare his candidacy, seems to be leaning that way.

“Profile will be my biggest challenge,” he said. “But I also think that people often run and they think their name will get them the win. That may hold water in a municipal election but, in a party election, it’s all about signing up new members, talking to people and getting out there. Doing the hard work.”

And it's likely none of the candidates will be running for the B.C. Liberal Party since it is changing its name to B.C. United. Leader Kevin Falcon has yet to say when the name change will happen.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 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, 2023