In 2009: The NDP’s Norm Macdonald won his second straight election in this riding, defeating Liberal Mark McKee by over 2000 votes, 55-38%.
History & Geography: Columbia River-Revelstoke comprises the northeast portion of the Kootenays, guided by Highway 1 from just before Revelstoke to the border, and Highway 95 from Golden to the northern outskirts of Cranbrook. It’s a descendent of the old Columbia River riding that the Socreds held for decades, much of it under James Chabot from 1963-1986. But it has gone NDP in four of the last five elections, with the party doing very well in Kimberly and Golden.
Basic Stats:
Population: 32205 (78th)
Size: 39135 km (6th)
Density: 0.8 people/km (80th)
Odds and Ends: People in this riding are independent—just 410 said they lived with relatives in the last census, lowest in the province. In 2006, just 2.5% were visible minorities, well below the average of 24.8%. More Canadians moved to this riding outside of B.C. from 2000-2005 than any other rural riding.
Candidates
Liberals-Doug Clovechok: An educator, Clovechok is the manager of the Invermere Campus of College of the Rockies. He lived in Calgary for over two decades, founding the Calgary Educational Partnership Foundation. He sits on the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Radium Chamber of Commerce, and the Greenways Board of Directors in Invermere.
NDP-Norm Macdonald: The critic for forests, lands and natural resource operations, Macdonald won both the 2005 and 2009 elections by fairly large margins. Before entering politics, he was a teacher in the Golden area. He also served as mayor of Golden from 1996-1999, and city councillor for three years before that.
Conservatives-Earl Olsen: A semi-retired certified general accountant, Olsen was a partner in a firm that owned printing plants. Olsen is a volunteer fireman, living in Fairmont Hot Springs.
Greens-Laurel Ralston: The President of the Kimberley Arts Council, Ralson has also been a director of the Kimberley Chamber of Commerce, and an Outreach Coordinator at Wildsight. A professional musician, Ralson earned a Music degree from the University of Ottawa.
Comments