PETERS: NDP’s disregard for BC Interior election races doesn’t serve anyone well

Even keeping those limitations in mind, it’s hard to square how the NDP have put so little energy into the BC Interior.

As a majority government calling a snap election, it was the NDP who should have been prepared with the best possible candidates and campaign infrastructure in every riding.

That doesn’t seem to have been the case in Kamloops.

And that’s no disrespect to Mike Wisla and Kory Clark, who seem like smart, likeable, hard-working people. They carry little name recognition and light resumes, though, in a field where that matters immensely.

Not only that, they have received the most prefunctory support from their party.

It’s been this way for a while.

In 2024, Kamal Grewal, another political newcomer, finished within shouting distance of Conservative Peter Milobar, despite similar indifference from NDP headquarters.

Four years prior, Sadie Hunter came within 200 votes of Milobar, despite being outspent three-to-one and, once again, getting little help from NDP brass.

Look to the south for a starkly different approach.

In Kelowna Centre, the NDP are running popular former city councillor Loyal Wooldridge against Conservative incumbent Kristina Loewen.

The same two battled it out in 2024, with Wooldridge coming just 40 votes short.

David Eby was back in Kelowna during this campaign, trying to help push Wooldridge over the top.

There was no sign of Eby in Kamloops, though, and barely a sniff of him anywhere north of Kelowna.

The reason this is important is not because the NDP deserves to win Kamloops Centre.

It’s important because MLAs everywhere are better, sharper representatives when their competitive juices are flowing from a stiff, honest challenge in the election.

No MLA candidates, whether they are Conservatives in the Interior or NDPers in downtown Vancouver, should skate breezily into their legislature seats.

Unless something monumental unfolds this weekend, that’s exactly what will happen here in Kamloops.

——

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by James Peters

PETERS: NDP’s disregard for BC Interior election races doesn’t serve anyone well

Our Community