In Osoyoos, incumbent Sue McKortoff has been re-elected as mayor. McKortoff captured 1,379 votes, or roughly 91 per cent of the vote, defeating her only challenger, Doug Pederson, who garnered 162 votes, according to unofficial results posted by CivicInfo BC.
Elected to council were Brian Harvey, C.J. Rhodes, Jim King, Myers Bennett, Kuldeep Dhaliwal and Claude Moreira.
Below is the full list of mayoral and councillor candidates.
Candidates
Mayor:
Sue McKortoff (incumbent)
Doug Pederson
Council:
Myers Bennett
Kuldeep Dhaliwal – acclaimed
Brian Harvey
Jim E. King (incumbent)
Jane Long
Shelley McIntyre
Claude Moreira (incumbent, acclaimed)
Sy Murseli
Kenny G. Music
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Egon Nielsen
Sarabjit Rai (incumbent)
C.J. Rhodes (incumbent)
Sherani Theophilus
Council
Osoyoos has councillors and water councillors; in 2018, the two water councillors were acclaimed.
Boundary
You’ll find Osoyoos in B.C.’s Okanagan region, situated on both sides of Osoyoos Lake. It’s right hear the Canada-U.S. border.
Population (2016)
5,085 (StatsCan advises using this figure with caution, however)
History
The Osoyoos area was initially home to members of the Okanagan (Syilx) Nation.
Its name is taken from the Syilx word “soo-yoos,” which refers to narrows on the lake.
European contact began in 1811, as traders who worked with the Pacific Fur Company, which was American, came to Osoyoos Lake and north of there.
The Hudson’s Bay Company subsequently became the dominant player in the fur trade, and the Okanagan region served as an important trade route.
Then the Gold Rush would come, bringing thousands of miners.
John Carmichael Haynes would serve as tax collector at a custom house north of Osoyoos.
Settlers would note the potential for growing fruit in the area and its first commercial orchard would be established in 1907, producing peaches, apples, cherries and more.
The growing of grapes would become a prominent agricultural activity in the 1960s, laying the ground for the vineyards that roll across the Osoyoos area today.
Osoyoos was incorporated as a village in 1946; it would become a town in 1983.
Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median
$92,288/$111,736
Crime Severity Index (CSI) — 2016/B.C.
(Numbers cover the RCMP’s South Okanagan/Osoyoos region)
109.66 (-4.18)/93.63 (-0.71)
Violent Crime Severity Index (CSI) — 2016/B.C.
66.81 (+102.27)/74.86 (-9.81)
Political representation
Federal
Richard Cannings (NDP)
Provincial
Linda Larson (BC Liberal)