Columbia River - Revelstoke MLA Doug Clovechok has only about a month left on the job before he retires, but has plenty to say about the upcoming provincial election, particularly the Conservative Party.
First, he says, a couple of weeks ago the BC Conservative party called up Scott McInnis, the already declared BC United Candidate for CRR.
“They phoned him up and asked him to switch parties,” Clovechok said. “He declined.”
Clovechok says he doesn’t blame them because he believes McInnis is a rising political star, but when you try to poach candidates from another party it indicates you don’t have much bench strength.
The Conservative Party has now nominated a candidate, AJ Wolfe. And while Wolfe’s biography says he is deeply connected to the Kootenays, it doesn’t mention where he is from.
That, Clovechok says, is because Wolfe doesn’t live in Columbia River - Revelstoke.
“He’s from Jaffray,” he said. “This riding is big and diverse. It took me 13 years to figure it out. This individual from Jaffray knows nothing about Columbia River - Revelstoke. I respect anyone who runs for public service, but someone from Jaffray — when was the last time he was in Revelstoke? Or Golden? Radium?
“You don’t know my people. Stay away.”
In May, Wolfe was elected President of the newly formed BC Conservative Kootenay Rockies riding association. Pete Davis was also named Conservative candidate for Kootenay Rockies.
Clovechok says that it’s somewhat ironic because while the Columbia River - Revelstoke Conservative candidate doesn’t live in this riding, the candidate for Kootenay-Rockies, Pete Davis, does live here.
“What do they do? Just throw a dart at a board to decide who runs where? What are you guys thinking? It’s an affront to the process and an insult to the people, even if it is legal.”
The Bulletin reached out to Mr. Wolfe for comment but at press time had not received a response.
There are now four candidates in place for this riding. Calvin Beauchesne is running for the Green Party, Scott McInnes for the BC United, AJ Wolfe for the Conservatives and, just this week, the NDP nominated Andrea Dunlop, a former teacher from Windermere.
