The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce is disappointed and surprised that the NDP candidates failed to appear on two of their three election debates.
Justin Kulik, the NDP candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country, and Krystal Smith, the NDP candidate for the Kelowna Mission, were not among the candidates who participated in the debates on Tuesday.
“It is unfortunate that they did not attend,” said the chamber’s executive director, Dan Rogers, on Wednesday.
“We’ve been having these kinds of debates for almost as long as we have existed, and we certainly expected them to want to attend,” said Rogers.
In early October, the Chamber contacted and invited all candidates running in the three major rides in the Kelowna area to participate in the debate, the timing and date of which had not yet been set.
Representatives from Smith, a Victoria-based provincial government official, were quick to say she would not join the Kelowna Chamber debate, Rogers said. No reason was given, he said.
Chamber officials nonetheless followed up and asked what date Smith might be available and whether she would like to participate as a Victoria resident via Zoom or Skype instead of coming to Kelowna and attending in person, but received no further response, Rogers said .
Regarding 19-year-old Kulik, Rogers said the chamber had received a notice suggesting he be included in the debate, and Kulik’s own Facebook page includes a link to the chamber’s debate. But on Monday evening, Kulik’s NDP campaign team sent a message to the chamber that he would not take part in the debate.
The chamber, which has about 1,000 members and calls itself Kelowna’s “Voice of Business,” held three live-streamed debates on Tuesday. NDP candidate Spring Hawes participated in the Kelowna West candidate debate.
The Liberals won all three races in the Kelowna region in the 2017 elections with around 58 percent of all votes, with the NDP by far in second place. NDP leader John Horgan did not hold an event in Kelowna during the month-long campaign.
“I leave it to others to speculate on what it means that two of the three NDP candidates did not participate in our debates in terms of how tough they are really campaigning here,” said Rogers.
Emails The Daily Courier sent to Kulik and Smith on Wednesday morning asking for information about why they did not take part in the debates have so far found no answer.
Renee Merrifield, the Liberal candidate for the Kelowna Mission, said Smith’s failure to appear at the debate meant she could not “hold the government accountable” on a number of issues.
“They also isolate the NDP party loyalists,” Merrifield said. “If I were a member of the NDP now, I would be annoyed. During this election I heard the concerns of our citizens on the doors and on the phones. I want to represent and stand in. I don’t know.” how to do that, just be a name on a ballot – not live in equestrianism and not get involved in the community. “
Norm Letnick, the Liberal candidate in Kelowna-Lake Country, said Horgan’s decision to end a tactical alliance with the Greens and call an early election a year ahead of schedule has forced all parties, including the NDP, to have candidates in some areas to find.
“Because Horgan broke his word, all parties had to look for candidates again,” said Letnick.
“Not my idea of what is best for democracy,” said Letnick. “I’m sure if Horgan had put provincial needs first, we would have had a much more normal electoral experience if all candidates had taken part in the chamber debate.”
Polls have shown that the NDP has a strong lead across the province over the Liberals heading for Saturday’s elections. An Angus Reid poll published on Monday found that the NDP was supported by 45 percent, the Liberals by 35 percent and the Greens by 16 percent.
NDP support declined by five seven points from a poll published on October 11 by Ipsos-Global. But the Liberals had only won one point while the Greens won five points.
