SS
IS BUSINE
?
CHANGING
ADVICE TRAINING GROWING ANCING UYING FIN SELLING B
PM41537042
Free
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Opal
14kt White Gold Sapphire and Fire Opal
431 Baker Street , Nelson, BC Phone: 250-352-5033
now available @
www.liveinthekoots.com
nelsoncu.com/eTransfer
Your Community Real Estate Agents in the West Kootenays
FALL BULBS! Prepare your garden with tulips, crocus, daffodils and more!
More than just a farmers store
524 Railway St Nelson (250) 352-5375
Glen Darough 250.354.3343
Trees coming down in park See Page 7
SROAMers take to the streets See Pages 10 and 11
October
Alan Tarr 250.354.8489
.
lp We can he
Vol. 8 • Issue 31
s.bc.ca www.future52.1933 250.3
NDP takes the Kootenays Wayne Stetski, Dick Cannings elected; lead changes several times in Kootenay-Columbia
BARRY COULTER, ARNE PETRYSHEN and TREVOR CRAWLEY Cranbrook Daily Townsman In the end, vote-splitting on the left was a moot point. High drama kept voters in KootenayColumbia awake into the small hours as Conservative David Wilks and New Democrat Wayne Stetski traded the lead down to the last handful of votes, in what was one of the tightest contests in the country. On an historic election night Monday, the riding saw massive voter turnout — more than 73 per cent. With all polls reporting, according to Elections Canada online updates, Kootenay-Columbia will have a new member of parliament. According to preliminary results, Stetski finished on top by only 285 votes — 23,529 to Wilks’ 23,244. Liberal candidate Don Johnston got 12,315, Green Party candidate Bill Green 4,115. As far as the turnout, 63,232 out of 85,653 eligible voters cast ballots —73.8 per cent. In Wilks’ campaign office in Cranbrook the mood was somber after a remarkably tense evening. “I was cautiously optimistic going into this and knew that it was probably going to come down to the last couple polls and it did,” Wilks said. “Congratulations to Mr. Stetski and I look forward to him working well with the constituency of the new riding of Kootenay-Columbia. “It’s been an honour for me to be in Ottawa for the last four and a half years.” Wilks said he thought the NDP ran a good campaign and that was what
Ali Watt 250.551.5235
Barbie Wheaton 250.509.0654
Dave Buss 250.354.9459
New Democrat Wayne Stetski (left) and Conservative David Wilks (right) watch results come in on Monday night. It was a nailbiter, but Stetski will represent Kootenay-Columbia in the next parliament. Cranbrook Daily Townsman photos made it such a close race. He noted that Leadnow — an independent advocacy organization aimed at defeating the Conservatives — targeted this riding heavily. “That probably played a significant role,” he noted. Wilks said he had no regrets through the campaign. “I worked a very hard campaign, I think all four of us worked a really hard campaign,” he said. “It is what it is, and you move on.” Wilks said some comments Stetski made during the campaign were incorrect, but didn’t have an impact. “I needed to make sure the people knew what the proper story was and I did that, and I don’t think that that was something that hurt me at all,” he said. Wilks added the turnout was pretty impressive. Stetski apparently benefitted from the anti-Stephen Harper sentiment that led to a Liberal majority government in Canada and a new prime minister. It was absolutely neck and neck as the polls reported and the vote counts
David Gentles 250.354.8225
Personal Real Estate Corporation
Julie Wilson 250.777.4202
Laura Salmon 250.551.8877
KOOTENAY-COLUMBIA Wayne Stetski/New Democrats 23,529 (37.2%) David Wilks/Conservative 23,244 (36.8%) Don Johnston/Liberal 12,315 (19.5%) Bill Green/Green Party 4,115 (6.5%) Turnout: 73.8% came in, with both candidates trading the lead several times. High drama indeed, on an historic night that saw the advent of Justin Trudeau, Canada’s 29th prime minister while Stephen Harper announced his resignation the same night. Down at the NDP camp in Cranbrook, the winning candidate was relatively subdued. “We are, I guess I’ll use the word successful by two handfuls of votes,” Stetski said. “It’s too close to call so nobody
Lisa Cutler 250.551.0076
Lorne Westnedge 250.505.2606
RHC Realty Serving Nelson and Area since 1908
100% Locally Owned & Independently Operated
Luke Mori 250.551.4917
should be declaring victory at this point. There may well be a judicial recount.” A judicial recount looks unlikely. The tabulation of votes is presided over by a judge of a superior court and must take place if the leading candidates in an electoral district receive the same number of votes after the validation of the results, or if they are separated by fewer than one one-thousandth of the total votes cast. In this case, that difference would have to be 63 votes. “What an interesting evening it’s been,” Stetski said. “I brought two speeches tonight, and I’m not going to give either one of them. It really is too close to call and neither Mr. Wilks or I should be giving a victory speech at this point.” “I was the regional manager of the Ministry of Environment for the Kootenays, with offices in Cranbrook, Nelson, Revelstoke and Invermere, and so for me, running in this election has been like going home. It’s been absolutely been a wonderful adventure.”
Tamara Jenkinson 250.354.3714
Continued on page 3
Trevor Jenkinson 250.354.8409 Property Manager
250.352.7252
www.rhcrealty.com
w w w. r h c re a l t y. c o m