The NDPsa国际传媒 candidate in West sa国际传媒-Peachland was a phantom candidate four years ago.
听
The party announced on the weekend that Krystal Smith would carry its flag in the reconfigured riding for the Oct. 19 provincial election.
听
The provincial campaign officially began on Saturday.
听
Smith was the partysa国际传媒 candidate in sa国际传媒-Mission in the 2020 campaign, but didn鈥檛 make much of an impression.
听
Most campaigning then was done virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
听
BC Liberal Renee Merrifield, who was elected, and Green Amanda Poon, who finished third, attended forums and other candidate events together online, but they didn鈥檛 see Smith.
Merrifield on election night praised Poon as a 鈥渧ery formidable opponent鈥 and said: 鈥淚 would have loved a little more participation from our NDP candidate.鈥
Poon was a little blunter: 鈥淭he fact that anybody would vote for her when she wasn鈥檛 even campaigning, to me is like a really sad thing 鈥 She didn鈥檛 even come to the debates and people still voted for her.鈥
Merrifield won with 50.8% of the vote. Smith had 32.4% and Poon 16.9%.
Smithsa国际传媒 biography on the NDP website says she was raised in sa国际传媒 by a single mom and as a student leader at UBC Okanagan, advocated for the universal bus pass.
鈥淭hanks to her strong leadership skills, UBC Okanagan students received a Universal Bus Pass that is still in place today,鈥 the NDP鈥坵ebsite says.
According to a Linked In profile, she lives in Victoria.
The Daily Courier asked the NDP communications department Monday morning whether Smith would be on the campaign trail this time around.
The NDP replied with a statement attributed to Smith, but didn鈥檛 say whether she will actively听campaign.
鈥淚 live in the region, I know that the people of this community want to see us building in West sa国际传媒-Peachland, and if you elect me, I鈥檒l work hard to help you and your family get ahead,鈥 Smith is quoted as saying.
Smith could make an appearance at an Oct. 2听all-candidates forum being put on by the Westside Board of Trade.
The event is scheduled for 6-7:30 at Emmanuel Church, 2600 Hebert Rd.
Also running in West sa国际传媒-Peachland are Stephen Johnston (unaffiliated, formerly BC United), Macklin McCall (BC Conservatives) and Josephine Beattie (Green).
Johnston on Monday issued a press release with his position on crime issues. 鈥淧rioritize Public Safety & Take Crime Seriously鈥 was the headline.
Ben Stewart represented most of the riding,听formerly known as sa国际传媒 West, but has retired.
Dan Ashton was the MLA for Peachland previously. He retired too but is seeking the Conservative nomination in South Okanagan-West Kootenay's federal riding.
