It’s the 2017 B.C. General Provincial Election: A month when the most popular news topic is a subject you know very little about. But that’s okay, because KelownaNow has got you covered.
In this piece we will go over the basics, from what the term “riding” actually means to what the major issues are and how the election affects you. If you’re an experienced voter and follow politics closely, you might not need to read this guide, but we do encourage you to scroll to the bottom and fill out the form with questions you’d like us to ask the candidates!
A riding is an electoral district, which is a geographical area that is represented in Government by an elected person. Simply put, within these geographical areas, people vote for someone to be their voice and make sure their needs are addressed in government.
In federal elections, people vote in their riding for a candidate to represent them as a Member of Parliament (mp) in the House of Commons. In Provincial elections, people vote in their riding for someone to represent them as a member of the legislative assembly (mla) in the provincial legislature.
We have three ridings in the Central Okanagan:
To vote you need to be a Canadian citizen, 18 or older on General Voting Day (May 9th) and a resident of B.C. for the past six months.
You also need to prove your identity and residential address before voting. To do this, make sure to bring either your B.C. driver’s license, B.C. Identification Card or B.C. Services Card (with photo). If you don’t have any of the above cards, click here to see alternative identification options that will allow you to vote. For more information on how to vote, click here.
You can vote on General Voting Day at the following list of locations from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 9th, 2017.
You can also choose to vote before May 9th at the following locations from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (dates vary depending on the location).
If you are unable to vote on or before General Voting Day, you can also vote at any district electoral office until 4 p.m. on May 9, 2017.
List of District Electoral Offices in Kelowna:You may also vote by mail. Details for mail voting can be found here.
Now you’re probably thinking, “well it’s great you’ve compiled this relatively short list of issues but how does this encourage me to head to the polls on May 9th and vote?”
Well, that’s a good question and we want to answer it by asking a favour: Ask yourself what issues you currently face in your day-to-day life. For example, do you struggle to keep up with rent? Are you burdened with student loan debt? Are you frustrated with the fees you have to pay when crossing toll bridges? Are you fed up of walking into a room and forgetting why you walked in there in the first place? The reason I’m asking you to think about these issues is because you have the power to do something about these issues on election day.
For example, if you currently find yourself buried in student loan debt, you can research the policies proposed by the parties regarding student loans and vote for the party you think offers the best solution. Click here for a table that compares the major party policies on a number of issues.
The B.C. Liberals are the ruling party and currently form a majority government in the B.C. Legislative Assembly with 47 seats (44 seats are needed for a majority). Their leader is current Premier Christy Clark who represents the riding of Westside-Kelowna.
The B.C. New Democratic Party (NDP) are the major opposition party with 34 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The NDP are currently led by John Horgan who represents the riding of Langford - Juan de Fuca.
The B.C. Green Party currently only have one seat in Parliament and are led by Andrew Weaver who represents the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head.
We will be publishing a series of pieces in the coming weeks focusing on specific issues and how the candidates running in Kelowna intend to address them. However, we want your opinion on what questions we should pose to the candidates!
What questions would you like to ask the candidates running in the election? Let us know by filling out the boxes below!
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