Incumbent MLA: Brittny Anderson (BC NDP | 2020)
Candidates:
BC NDP: Brittny Anderson
BC Conservatives: Gordon Skulnec
BC Greens: Nicole Charlwood
OneBC: Hunter Corrigal
2024 Results:
BC NDP - 39.6%
BC Conservatives - 31.7%
BC Greens - 18.7%
Independent - 10.0%
Once represented by iconoclastic BC NDP MLA Corky Evans, Kootenay Central may no longer be the NDP stronghold of yesteryear. Since the New Democrats’ 2005 comeback, the riding has stayed orange in every election since - though by slimmer margins over the last decade. Half a century after the Vietnam War drove politics here to the left, the riding may be on the verge of yet another political realignment.
The bulk of Kootenay Central’s population lives in two communities: Nelson and Creston. Nelson was once a silver boomtown, which brought with it accompanying railways that would make it a regional hub in the Kootenays. The 1970s brought with it an influx of Vietnam draft dodgers from the United States, who brought their countercultural attitudes with them and grew an arts and culture scene that lives on to this very day.
That streak, along with Evans’ own reputation as a maverick (and fellow draft dodger himself) earned him enduring credibility in Nelson. However, as climate change and environmentalism gained salience in the 2010s, so too did the Greens’ strength.
Indeed, driven by a strong performance in Nelson, the Greens managed to place second ridingwide in 2017 and 2020, before dropping to a distant third in 2024. Part of that shift may have been a result of the countercultural, “crunchy granola” lifestyle being a pipeline for anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination sentiment, which the provincial Greens have distanced themselves from.
Creston, on the other hand, has long leaned towards the right. After forestry and some railway development, the town struck gold by investing in agriculture. The climate of Creston and its environs was well-suited to the ambitions of independent producers, who cultivated apple orchards, grain, and even livestock. Nowadays, the town has also become a favourite of Albertan retiree snowbirds, who have brought along their politics with them as well.
The other communities in the riding are all encompassed within the sprawling RDCK (Regional District of Central Kootenay). Salmo and Kaslo are the largest of these, the former boasting a blue-collar heritage that gave the NDP a high base of support. Other villages and unincorporated communities dot the landscape along Kootenay Lake, which has a ferry service that has been beset by labour strife.
Incumbent BC NDP MLA Brittny Anderson, formerly a Nelson city councillor, is defending the riding once again. The Conservatives are fielding Gordon Skulenc, a small business owner in Salmo. As for the Greens, former Nelson city councillor Nicole Charlwood is making her third run for provincial office. The most interesting wrinkle in all this may be the OneBC candidate, BC Sheriff Service officer Hunter Corrigal.
Last election, Nelson nurse Corinne Mori made a respectably strong independent bid for office after attempting to run for the BC Conservatives. Her campaign hit many of the right-wing populist themes that Corrigal is poised to inherit, such as struggling rural healthcare and overtaxation.
In a riding like this, where parties to the right of the mainstream conservative option like the PPC have fared well, OneBC may prove to be the NDP’s saving grace against a Conservative wave and a Lowan-driven Green resurgence.
Hugh Chan is an International Relations student at the University of British Columbia who sometimes moonlights as a political reporter.
