2005 Candidates (as received from Elections B.C.):
- Kevin Ade, Green Party of BC
- Al Clarke, DR BC
- Al Horning, BC Liberal Party
- John Pugsley, New Democratic Party of B.C.
District Profile:
This riding takes in that part of Kelowna north of Highway 33, the CNR line and Harvey Avenue, along with the District of Lake Country and areas stretching to the south and east. Kelowna itself is the major commercial and services centre in the riding. Agriculture is significant, with apple orchards, fruit trees and vineyards. Small manufacturing industries have been established here, producing transportation equipment, machinery and wood products. Summer and winter tourism is also substantial. The average family income – $59,574 – is below the provincial average, but the 8.6 per cent unemployment rate is about average. Thirteen per cent of residents are immigrants; among ethnicities, 16 per cent are German. Fifteen per cent of the population is over age 65.
Political History:
In Kelowna-Lake Country, Liberal John Weisbeck is a two-term incumbent. He won in 2001 by a margin of more than 4-to-1 over Janet Scotland of the NDP; in 1996 he gained office by unseating Judy Tyabji of the Progressive Democratic Alliance by nearly 3,000 votes. Tyabji, in turn, had come to power on the Liberal ticket in 1991 by unseating the Social Credit's Larry Chalmers. (In 1993 Tyabji left the Liberal caucus and, until '96, sat as an independent.) In 1986 this was a two-member riding represented by Chalmers and fellow Socred Cliff Serwa. For nearly a half-century before that, the riding belonged to the Bennett dynasty. The father, W.A.C. Bennett, won 11 elections here with the Social Credit Party between 1941 and '73, serving as premier from 1952-72. He then ceded the seat to son Bill, who became Social Credit leader and served as B.C.'s premier from 1975-86.
In 2001, voter turnout in Kelowna-Lake Country was 66.9 per cent – well below the provincial average.
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