Where, when and how to vote in the Central Okanagan on Oct. 15

Municipal election day is Saturday, Oct. 15 throughout the province and many people are scrambling to get the information they need to make up their minds.

That’s particularly tough in Kelowna where 32 people are running for eight city council seats.

Here’s a guide on how to get more information, who is running and where to vote.

KELOWNA

MAYOR

Basran, Colin (I)
Dyas, Tom
David Habib
Smedley, Glendon Charles
Socrates, Silverado

COUNCIL (8)

Ames, Susan
Becenko, Chris
Bocskei, Chris
Braf, Amarit
Cannan, Ron
Collecutt, Sacheen (Spirit Alliance)
Dahms, Greg
DeHart, Maxine (I)
Dhial, Indy
Fiddler, Darren
Given, Gail (I)
Grewal, Bal
Hodge, Charlie (I)
Joseph, Daniel
Kay, James
Kyle, Davis
Lalli, Amarjit Singh
Lovegrove, Gord
Macauley, Tom
McMurray, Elaine
Norman, Ben
Rogers, Brian
Sawatzky, Zachary
Schlosser, Dan
Shepherd, Anthony
Singh, Mohini (I)
Stack, Luke (I)
Truch, Peter
Webber, Rick
Wentworth, Noel
Williams, Chris (Spirit Alliance)
Wooldridge, Loyal (I)

The City of Kelowna elections webpage not only lists all the candidates but includes contact information and links to their webpages and social media, where available.

The Kelowna Daily Courier sent questions to candidates, some of which can be seen here. Castanet has information and interviews with some of the candidates throughout the Thompson and Okanagan here.

KELOWNA ENDORSEMENTS

Four groups have endorsed individual candidates.

The Citizens for a New Performing Arts Centre lists 16 candidates who support their efforts to build a replacement for Kelowna Community Theatre.

Those include two mayoralty candidates, Colin Basran and Tom Dyas, along with 14 city council candidates.

Chris Bocskei
Amarit Brar
Ron Cannan
Greg Dahms
Indy Dhial
Bal Grewal
James Kay
Davis Kyle
Gord Lovegrove
Tom Macauley
Peter Truch
Noel Wentworth
Chris Williams
Loyal Wooldridge

Go to their website here for more information.

Liveable Kelowna surveyed candidates to determine who it believes is the “best able to bring our community together to address the complex challenges facing Kelowna.”

The group is registered with Elections B.C. as a third party sponsor and sent questionnaires to all candidates.

Four of five mayoralty candidates responded as did 22 of 32 council candidates.

No mayoralty candidates were judged suitable and only six council candidates made the cut:

Davis Kyle
Bal Grewal
Gordon Lovegrove
Elaine McMurray
Peter Truch
Loyal Wooldridge

For more information, including who responded and in-depth answers to the wide variety questions, go to the Liveable Kelowna website, here.

The North Okanagan Labour Council invited candidates to apply for endorsation. It did not say how many applied but only four met their standard, which included: past experience, volunteerism, history with unions and involvement with community organizations. It also reviewed their platforms looking for topics of interest to labour.

Those who are endorsed:

Davis Kyle
Gordon Lovegrove
Mohini Singh
Loyal Wooldridge

For more information go to the Labour Council website, here.

The Kelowna Professional Fire Fighters Association posted a list of candidates on its Facebook page, simply saying: “We support those who support us.”

That list includes Mayor Colin Basran and seven council candidates:

Incumbent Councillors

Mohini Singh
Charlie Hodge
Loyal Wooldridge
Luke Stack

New Candidates

Peter Truch
Amarjit Singh Lalli
James Kay

The Canadian Homebuilders Association asked candidates more than a dozen questions about housing and affordability. No endorsements were made but the detailed responses from Kelowna, West Kelowna, Lake Country and Vernon can be seen here.

WEST KELOWNA

MAYOR

Milsom, Gord
Kwaczynski, Andrew

COUNCIL (6)

Bastiaanssen, Anthony
Da Silva, Tasha
Dawn, Sylvia
de Jong, Rick (I)
Ensign, Rusty
Friesen, Jason (I)
Groat, Tom
Johnston, Stephen
Martin, John
Millsap, Garrett
Naaykens, Jasmine Jane
Winsby, Bryden
Zanon, Carol (I)

The City of West Kelowna elections page includes contact information and links to Facebook and social media, here.

Castanet has information and interviews with some of the candidates throughout the Thompson and Okanagan here.

LAKE COUNTRY

The District of Lake Country lists candidates, contact information and links, here.

It is the only jurisdiction in the Central Okanagan that has a ward system. Some positions, including the mayor’s, were filled by acclamation.

The site still posts Barry Rhodes as a candidate for mayor but he dropped out of the race after filing his nomination papers, leaving Blair Ireland to be acclaimed as mayor.

MAYOR

Blair Ireland – acclaimed

At-Large Candidates (2)

Michael Lewis
Bib Patel
Bill Scarrow

Carr's Landing Ward Candidates

Cara Reed – acclaimed

Okanagan Centre Ward Candidates (1)

Tricia Brett
Riley Hastings

Oyama Ward Candidates

Todd McKenzie – acclaimed

Winfield Ward Candidates (1)

Heather Irvine
Jerremy Kozub

The Lake Country website is here.

A video of the all-candidates forum put on by the Lake Country Chamber of Commerce can be seen here.

Castanet has information and interviews with some of the candidates throughout the Thompson and Okanagan here.

PEACHLAND

The District of Peachland elections page includes contact information and links to websites and social media, here.

MAYOR

Fielding, Keith
Fortin, Cindy
Van Minsel, Patrick

COUNCILLORS (5)

Bennet, Kevin
Brophy, Randey
Collins, David
Condon, Terry
Cunningham, Pam
Glasman, Alena
Goodman, Moira
Ingram, Rick
Kent, Mike
Thom, Keith
Udala Rainer
Walsh, Nick

CENTRAL OKANAGAN REGIONAL DISTRICT

Both seats have been acclaimed with incumbent Wayne Carson in Central Okanagan West and Kevin Kraft in Central Okanagan East.

SCHOOL BOARD

School District 23 has a ward system with four trustees elected in Kelowna and one each in West Kelowna, Lake Country and Peachland.

The list of candidates and contact information can be found on the appropriate municipal websites.

Candidates are:

Peachland (1)

Karrie Fehr
Lisa Guderyan
Gordon Wiebe

West Kelowna (1)

Laurie Bowen (ParentsVoiceBC)
Chantelle Desrosier

Kelowna (4)

Chris Becenko
Wayne Broughton
Tovey Demman (ParentsVoiceBC)
Teresa Docksteader (ParentsVoiceBC)
Chris Fieber (ParentsVoiceBC)
Julia Fraser
Val Johnson
Erika Shephard
Lee-Ann Tiede

Lake Country

Amy Geistlinger – acclaimed

A video of the candidate forum where 10 of the 14 running for seats can be seen on the Central Okanagan Parents Advisory Council webpage, here.

WHO CAN VOTE

You must be a Canadian citizen;
18 years of age or older as of October 15, 2022;
a resident of B.C. for at least 6 months before the day you register to vote;
a resident of the municipality (no minimum amount of time) or a qualified non-resident property elector (must have owned the property for at least 30 days before the day you register to vote); and not disqualified from voting.

You are disqualified from voting if you have been convicted of an indictable offence and are currently in custody or if you have been found guilty of an election offence.

WHAT TO BRING

Eligible voters must produce two pieces of identification to prove both residency and identity. At least one piece of identification must have a signature on it. Your identification does not need to include a photo. Acceptable forms of identification include:

B.C. Driver's Licence*
ICBC Vehicle Insurance
B.C. Identification Card
B.C. Services Card*
Citizenship Card
Property tax notice
Social Insurance Number card
Credit card
Utility bill for municipal residence (electricity, natural gas, water, phone or cable service)

*NOTE: A combination B.C. Driver's Licence and Services Card counts as only one piece of identification

WHERE TO VOTE

All polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

KELOWNA

ADVANCE POLLS – Oct. 15

Black Box Theatre – 1375 Water St.
Dr. Knox Middle School – 121 Drysdale Blvd.
Hollywood Road Education Centre – 1040 Hollywood Rd. S.
Okanagan College – 1000 KLO Rd. (Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
Parkinson Recreation Centre – 1800 Parkinson Way.

OCT. 15 POLLS

Capital News Centre – 4105 Gordon Dr.
East Kelowna Community Hall – 2704 East Kelowna Rd.
Evangel Church – 3261 Gordon Dr.
Kelowna Senior Citizens' Society – 1353 Richter St.
Mission Creek Alliance Church – 2091 Springfield Rd.
Okanagan Mission Community Hall – 4409 Lakeshore Rd.
Parkinson Recreation Centre – 1800 Parkinson Way
Rutland Elementary School – 620 Webster Rd.
Springvalley Middle School – 350 Ziprick Rd.
Watson Road Elementary School – 475 Yates Rd.

WEST KELOWNA

ADVANCE POLL – Oct 13

City of West Kelowna council chambers – 2760 Cameron Rd.

OCT. 15 POLLS

Westbank Lions Community Centre – 2466 Main St.
Constable Neil Bruce Middle School – 2010 Daimler Drive
Mar Jok Elementary School – 2101 McDougall Rd.

LAKE COUNTRY

George Elliott Secondary School – 10241 Bottom Wood Lake Rd.

PEACHLAND

Peachland Community Centre – 4450 – 6th Street

CENTRAL OKANAGAN WEST (For Peachland school trustee)

Town Suites by Marriott – 3551 Carrington Rd., West Kelowna
Killiney Beach Community Hall – 514 Udell Rd.

— This article was updated at 9:30 a.m., Oct. 14, 2022 to add in Central Okanagan West polling stations.

— This article was updated at 10:44 a.m., Oct. 14, 2022 to add Lake Country candidate contact links.

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