The next provincial election may not be until mid-October but already political parties in the Skeena riding are preparing for their campaigns.
The decision by current B.C. United Skeena MLA Ellis Ross to try his hand at federal politics by being named by federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as the candidate for the Skeena - Bulkley Valley riding means the provincial Skeena riding is wide open.
Provincial Conservative party leader John Rustad has already chosen his candidate, Kitimat resident Claire Rattee, while New Democrats and the B.C. United are actively looking for their own.
With October 19 pegged as voting day and Sept. 21 as the official day the election is called, B.C. United Skeena constituency association president Brian Downie said the period for actual campaigning is fairly compressed.
His preference is to have a candidate in place sooner rather than later and certainly before September and even before summer holidays begin.
“You’re really looking wanting the best opportunities to have your candidate out there, to be known,” Downie said.
That’s particularly important for Downie in that B.C. United will be campaigning with a new face now that Ross has set his sights on Ottawa.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. We’re pretty confident we can find a candidate between Terrace and Kitimat,” he added.
The NDP’s search for a candidate includes what the party called “equity deserving” groups, the description for people considered to have barriers preventing them from full participation in society. Those barriers could be historic, social, based on age, ethnicity, disability, gender, race or sexual orientation to name several.
The NDP also has a significant time factor at play. To vote for a candidate for the nomination, or to run as a candidate, a person has to be a party member in good standing for at least 90 days.
How the B.C. United and the NDP will choose their candidates isn’t yet known because to have a nomination race, there have to be at least two approved candidates.
For the NDP, nomination dates are set at the request of the party’s local association and approved by the party’s provincial executive.
“Voters in Skeena can expect a strong BC NDP candidate who offers better solutions for people than BCUP and BC Conservatives’ choices that help those at the top at the expense of everyone else,” said Aaron Sumexheltza, the president of the provincial NDP party.
Downie said B.C. United has yet to decide on its selection process.
Nomination meetings by either the NDP or the B.C. United would be the first in years for the Skeena riding.
The last nomination meeting provincially for either party was when the NDP chose Bruce Bidgood to run in the 2017 provincial election.
Former Premier Christy Clark selected Ross for the 2017 provincial election when B.C. United was known as the B.C. Liberal party. Ross won the 2017 election and as the sitting MLA running again in 2020, there was no nomination contest.
Ross won the 2020 vote, topping Nicole Halbauer as the NDP candidate. The NDP did not have a nomination contest.