Boundary—Similkameen

Boundary—Similkameen stretches across a vast swath of southern British Columbia’s interior, from the orchards and vineyards of Oliver and Osoyoos in the Okanagan to the ranching and mining communities of the Boundary region around Grand Forks and Greenwood. The riding was created in the 2008 redistribution and first contested in the 2009 election. In 2013, Linda Larson won the seat for the BC Liberals in a wide-open race after the previous MLA did not run again. Larson, a former mayor of the Town of Oliver, brought deep municipal experience and a strong connection to the South Okanagan’s agricultural community.

Candidates

Linda Margaret Larson (BC Liberal Party) — Larson was the incumbent MLA seeking a second term. Before entering provincial politics, she had served on Oliver’s town council and as the town’s mayor from 1997 to 2005. She also served on B.C.’s Small Business Roundtable. During her first term in the legislature, she served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health for Seniors and as Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Education.

Colleen Ross (BC NDP) — Ross operated a small farm in Grand Forks. She won the NDP nomination in January 2017, defeating a challenger at the nomination meeting. During the campaign, she advocated for the NDP’s agricultural initiative to support local food production and keeping farmers on the land.

Peter Entwistle (Independent) — Dr. Peter Entwistle was a physician who had grown up in Southport, England, and practised as a general practitioner there for 30 years before immigrating to Canada in 2007 and settling in Oliver. He had served as chief of staff at the South Okanagan General Hospital since 2009. He entered the race as an independent after attending candidates’ forums and expressing concern about how healthcare issues were being discussed. He resigned his hospital position to campaign, citing grave concerns about staffing levels at the facility, particularly in the emergency department.

Vonnie Lavers (BC Green Party) — Lavers was a former director of the Kelowna Community Food Bank. She advocated for redirecting government subsidies from oil and gas companies toward green energy projects.

Local Issues

Healthcare was the dominant issue in Boundary—Similkameen, brought into sharp focus by the candidacy of Dr. Peter Entwistle. The South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver had struggled with physician and nursing shortages, leading to emergency room closures. Rural communities across the riding faced difficulty attracting and retaining healthcare professionals, and residents worried about losing access to essential services. The staffing crisis at the hospital galvanized public concern and shaped the campaign debate.

Agriculture and water infrastructure were critical economic issues. The Oliver area is home to more than 30 wineries and produces over 30 million dollars worth of wine grapes, cherries, peaches, apples, and forage crops annually. A rockslide in January 2016 had damaged pipes and equipment that deliver irrigation water to Oliver, the Osoyoos Indian Band, and agricultural users in the Regional District of the Okanagan—Similkameen. In 2017, the BC government committed five million dollars toward replacing the aging canal pipeline, which had served more than 5,000 acres of farmland for a century. The irrigation system’s reliability was a lifeline for the region’s agricultural economy.

The riding’s rural character meant that transportation and connectivity were persistent concerns. Residents in communities like Keremeos, Princeton, and Grand Forks faced long drives to access services in larger centres, and the condition of rural highways was a frequent topic at all-candidates forums.