The South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding now has a slate of five candidates running in the Sept. 20 federal election with the announcement Sunday that Kennith James Skwleqs Robertson is running under the Liberal banner.
Robertson is from the Secwepemc Nation and a member of the Neskonlith Indian Band near Chase making him a non-resident candidate. According to his biography, he grew up in East Vancouver before moving to Toronto in his youth and later worked at the Tumivut Youth Shelter and Native Canadian Centre of Toronto.
With three of his four children on the autism spectrum, Robertson is a keen advocate for autistic children and their families.
Robertson joins four other candidates on the ballot next month including incumbent New Democrat Richard Cannings, Conservative Helena Konanz, the Green Party’s Tara Howse, and Sean Taylor of the People’s Party of Canada.
During the last federal election just two years ago, Cannings defeated Konanz by 796 votes taking 36.4 per cent and Konanz 35.2 per cent, with Connie Denesiuk of the Liberals coming in third with 17.2 per cent (down from the previous election where she gained 28 per cent of the vote), followed by Howse with 8.3 per cent of the vote. Taylor was fifth followed by Carolina Hopkins who ran as an independent.
Cannings, a biologist and author was first elected in 2015 with 37.3 per cent of the vote. He unsuccessfully sought election as a member of the legislative assembly of B.C. in the 2013 BC election. Prior to his involvement in politics, Cannings worked as a biologist specializing in birds and taught at the University of British Columbia for 17 years, as well as authoring numerous books about birds and natural history.
Konanz previously served on Penticton city council from 2011-2018 and with the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen for four of those years. She is a retired tennis professional and now works as a business coach and small business owner. She is also a member of Rotary International, serves on an advocacy committee with the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce and is involved with Penticton’s industrial association.
Howse, from Rossland, was appointed to the Green Party’s shadow cabinet as the gender critic and rural economic development critic shortly after the 2019 election. She has been in the rural community economic development field for 15 years, focusing on social justice issues addressing gender and indigeneity.
Currently, Howse is an advisory committee member of the city of Rossland’s Official Community Plan, a volunteer with the West Kootenay Friends of Refugees, and a founding member of the BC Climate Alliance.
Taylor is a second-time candidate in the federal election, having made his entrance in the 2019 election. He is an emergency room nurse with Interior Health and a reservist with the Calgary Highlanders infantry with whom he was deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010. During his tour, he worked in psychological operations with a Canadian battle group based in Kandahar.
Aug. 30 is the deadline for the submission of nomination papers to Elections Canada.
