One of two Kamloops-area Liberal candidates chosen for upcoming federal election

The Liberals picked a candidate for the Kamloops area as the federal election comes closer.

Neskonlith Indian Band member Ken Robertson will represent the incumbent party for the Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies riding, a new boundary encompassing part of Kamloops and extending east to Golden.

Robertson ran for the Liberal Party of Canada in 2021, vying for a South Okanagan seat, and was previously on Ontario provincial election ballots.

The Secwepemc man didn’t win those elections, but in a March 28 news release, he touts experience both with non-profits and his own small business.

He’s the final candidate from the major four parties to be named in the riding and he is up against Conservative incumbent Mel Arnold, NDP candidate Phaedra Idzan and Owen Madden for the Green Party.

Arnold’s effort to hold his seat in Parliament comes with changes to the electoral district boundaries. The dissolved North Okanagan-Shuswap riding means losing Vernon and Coldstream, while gaining southeast Kamloops, Revelstoke and Golden.

Who will take on Conservative incumbent Frank Caputo in the Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola riding remains to be seen, but lawyer Iain Currie is the only Liberal nominee known to have put his name forward. Currie is a known name on the local ballots, having run in two previous elections under the Green Party banner.

The 2025 federal election will be on April 28.