Local members of the NDP Party Federal Riding of South Okanagan West Kootenay attended an All Candidates Meeting at the Oliver Elks Hall Wednesday night at 6:30 pm to meet and ask questions of the two nomination candidates, Margaret Maximenko and Richard Cannings.

Margaret Maximenko lives in Christina Lake and is a past Director for the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary with an impressive portfolio of appointments including Local Government Spokesperson for the Commission on Resources and the Environment.

Dick Cannings is a well-known Registered Biologist and author from Penticton who served as a Director for the Nature Conservancy of Canada and founded the local ‘Meadowlark Festival’.

This well-structured forum gave the candidates an opportunity to tell the audience why they should become the next federal representative for the riding; after their introductions they then responded to written questions from Moderator Rhonda Bruce.

It was no surprise that environmental concerns was one of the main topics but there were also questions regarding what strengths each candidate would bring to the Federal NDP and whether or not they would represent their constituents’ concerns in matters where the Party Caucus position was at odds with what local residents believed to be the issue.

Report and pictures – Pat Hampson