South Okanagan—West Kootenay

South Okanagan—West Kootenay is a sprawling federal riding in the southern interior of British Columbia, stretching from the arid vineyards of the Okanagan Valley in the west to the forested mountain corridors of the West Kootenay in the east. The riding encompasses roughly 150 kilometres in each direction and sits atop the Washington State border to the south. Major communities include Penticton — the riding's largest population centre, with a regional airport and hospital — along with Oliver, Osoyoos, Grand Forks, Trail, Castlegar, Rossland, Fruitvale, New Denver, and Nakusp. The riding follows Highways 97, 3, 6, and 33 through the Kettle, Slocan, and Beaver valleys and along much of the Arrow Lakes. The 2021 census recorded a population of approximately 123,500.

Candidates

Richard Cannings (NDP) — The incumbent MP, first elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. An award-winning biologist and natural history author, Cannings taught in the University of British Columbia Department of Zoology for 15 years and co-authored several books, including Birds of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, published by the Royal British Columbia Museum. In Parliament, he served as the NDP Critic for Natural Resources.

Helena Konanz (Conservative) — A former Penticton city councillor who served from 2011 to 2018. Konanz is a graduate of UCLA and competed as a professional tennis player, achieving a top-100 world ranking before working at Nike's world headquarters in Portland. She later earned a master's degree in political science at UBC Okanagan and has won seven national Canadian masters tennis championships.

Ken Robertson (Liberal) — A member of the Secwepemc Nation from the Neskonlith Indian Band in south-central British Columbia, raised in East Vancouver. Robertson received a Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General for his advocacy on behalf of parents of autistic children after two of his own children were diagnosed with autism.

Sean Taylor (PPC) — A career emergency services professional who has worked as a firefighter, paramedic, and registered nurse over a 25-year span. Taylor serves as an emergency room nurse with Interior Health and is a reservist with the Calgary Highlanders infantry, having deployed to Afghanistan in 2009–2010 with a Canadian battle group based in Kandahar.

About the Riding

The South Okanagan portion of the riding is the heart of British Columbia's wine industry. Oliver is known as the wine capital of Canada, and the corridor between Oliver and Osoyoos represents the warmest and driest zone in the Okanagan Valley. Distinct sub-regions — the Golden Mile Bench, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Falls, and Skaha Bench — produce a range of award-winning wines. Tree-fruit orchards and cherry farms also dominate the landscape, and the region's agriculture relies heavily on seasonal labour and irrigation from lake and river systems.

The West Kootenay side of the riding has a different economic character. Trail is home to the Teck Resources lead-zinc smelter, one of the largest in the world and a major regional employer. Castlegar serves as a regional hub with its airport and Selkirk College campus. Rossland, a former gold-mining town, has reinvented itself as a winter recreation destination. Smaller communities like New Denver and Nakusp in the Slocan Valley rely on forestry, tourism, and small-scale agriculture.

The riding's vast geography created persistent challenges around healthcare access and transportation. Residents in remote communities routinely travelled hours to reach hospital services or specialist care, and recruitment of physicians and nurses to smaller towns was an ongoing struggle. Broadband connectivity remained spotty in rural areas, a gap made more visible by the pandemic's shift toward remote work and online education.

Environmental issues carried particular weight in this riding. Wildfire risk was a growing concern across the region, with several communities having experienced evacuations in recent fire seasons. Water management — balancing agricultural irrigation needs with ecosystem protection in a semi-arid climate — was a long-running policy tension. The riding also included portions of the Columbia River watershed, where dam operations and cross-border water-sharing agreements under the Columbia River Treaty affected local communities.