Columbia River-Revelstoke

Columbia River–Revelstoke is one of British Columbia's most physically dramatic constituencies, threading through the Columbia and Kootenay mountain valleys from Revelstoke in the north through Golden, Invermere, and Radium Hot Springs to Kimberley in the south. The riding covers approximately 39,000 square kilometres of terrain defined by the Rocky, Purcell, and Selkirk mountain ranges, with communities strung along the Highway 1 and Highway 95 corridors. Tourism anchors much of the local economy — Revelstoke Mountain Resort, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort near Golden, Panorama Mountain Village near Invermere, and Kimberley Alpine Resort draw skiers, mountain bikers, and outdoor enthusiasts year-round — while forestry, mining, and the heritage of the Canadian Pacific Railway's passage through the Selkirks remain part of the region's economic fabric.

The riding had been held by BC Liberal MLA Doug Clovechok since 2017, but Clovechok chose to retire rather than seek re-election. His successor as the centre-right standard-bearer — Scott McInnis, who had originally been nominated as a BC United candidate before Kevin Falcon suspended that party's campaign in August 2024 — ran under the Conservative banner in a tightly contested race against NDP candidate Andrea Dunlop and Green candidate Calvin Beauchesne.

Candidates

Scott McInnis (Conservative Party of BC) — McInnis relocated to Kimberley from Ontario in 2010 and built a career in education in the East Kootenays. He worked in the independent school system as an elementary teacher before becoming principal and childcare manager at the Kimberley Independent School, and later transitioned to the public system as a librarian, social studies instructor, and leadership teacher at Selkirk Secondary School, where he also served as acting on-call principal. Outside the classroom, McInnis coached basketball teams to multiple East Kootenay Zone Championships and volunteered with the Elks Lodge in Kimberley. He was originally nominated as the BC United candidate for the riding before that party's withdrawal from the race redirected his candidacy to the Conservatives.

Andrea Dunlop (BC NDP) — Dunlop was a retired high school teacher with three decades of experience in the classroom and a lifelong resident of Windermere in the Columbia Valley. She served for a decade on the board of the Windermere Community Association and campaigned with a particular focus on the challenges facing rural British Columbians, arguing that the roughly thirteen per cent of the provincial population living outside urban centres needed stronger advocacy in Victoria. She also identified sustainable forest management as a central policy priority.

Calvin Beauchesne (BC Green Party) — Beauchesne held a BA in Environmental Studies and an MA in Sustainability Studies from Trent University and had lived in Golden for five years, working as a ski instructor, volunteer ski patroller, and sea kayak guide. He served on the board of directors for Wildsight Golden and coordinated the organization's Climate Action Taskforce, through which he helped Golden commit to a one-hundred-per-cent renewable energy target.

Local Issues

Wildfire risk and emergency preparedness dominated public discourse across the riding during the 2020–2024 period. The record-setting 2021 wildfire season and the severe 2023 season forced evacuations in communities throughout the Columbia and Kootenay valleys, and smoke from distant fires regularly blanketed mountain towns for weeks at a time, disrupting the tourism industry that sustained local economies. The provincial government invested in wildfire risk-reduction projects in the Columbia Basin through a partnership with the Columbia Basin Trust, funding fuel-management treatments and FireSmart programs in vulnerable neighbourhoods. Revelstoke, Kimberley, and Golden all expanded their community wildfire protection plans, but residents and local officials argued that the scale of investment remained inadequate relative to the growing threat posed by climate-driven fire conditions.

Healthcare access was perhaps the single most frequently raised concern at candidates' forums across the riding. Communities separated by mountain passes and hours of driving struggled with physician recruitment and retention, and the nearest regional hospital for many residents was in Cranbrook or Kelowna — a journey that could exceed three hours in winter conditions. Walk-in clinic hours were limited in smaller centres, and emergency department pressures in Revelstoke and Golden increased during peak tourist seasons when the population temporarily surged. The NDP government had invested in primary care networks in the region, but candidates faced persistent questioning about whether those investments had translated into tangible improvements for residents trying to find a family doctor.

Housing affordability had reached crisis proportions in several of the riding's resort-adjacent communities. Revelstoke, Golden, and Invermere experienced sharp increases in property values driven by demand from remote workers and second-home purchasers during and after the pandemic, while the supply of long-term rental housing shrank as property owners converted units to short-term vacation rentals. Seasonal workers in the tourism and hospitality sectors — the backbone of the local economy — faced particular difficulty finding accommodation, and some businesses reported being unable to fill positions because prospective employees had nowhere to live. Municipal governments experimented with short-term rental regulations and the province's speculation and vacancy tax applied in some areas, but candidates debated whether additional measures were needed to protect local housing stock for year-round residents.