Kootenay—Monashee

Kootenay—Monashee traces the Columbia River valley from Trail and Rossland through Castlegar and northward along the Slocan Valley to Burton, encompassing the industrial, recreational, and forestry-dependent communities of the West Kootenay. The riding was renamed and redrawn from the former Kootenay West constituency for the 2024 election, reflecting adjustments to its northern boundary. Trail's Teck smelter—which has operated for over a century—remains the region's industrial anchor, while Rossland's ski resort and outdoor recreation economy, Castlegar's role as a post-secondary hub through Selkirk College, and the smaller communities of Fruitvale and the Beaver Valley round out a diverse economic landscape.

Candidates

Steve Morissette (BC NDP) — Morissette had served as mayor of Fruitvale for ten years at the time of the election. During his tenure, he led the construction of a 37-seat daycare and a 31-unit fully accessible affordable housing complex in the village. He succeeded retiring MLA Katrine Conroy, who had represented the area since 2005.

Glen Byle (Conservative Party) — Byle had worked in healthcare for 18 years and served as a union steward in healthcare for a decade. He had previously run for the Conservative Party in the former Kootenay West riding in the 2020 provincial election.

Donovan Cavers (BC Green Party) — Cavers grew up on a third-generation farm near Chase, founded and operated Conscientious Catering for 12 years, and had transitioned to a career as an elementary school teacher. He had also served as a Kamloops city councillor from 2011 to 2018.

Local Issues

Health care staffing and service gaps were the dominant concern across the West Kootenay. The loss of specialists—including medical oncologists serving the region—had disrupted cancer care delivery, and residents in smaller communities like Nakusp, Rossland, and the Beaver Valley faced long drives for basic specialist appointments. The shortage of family physicians meant that many residents lacked a regular doctor, and the broader crisis in recruiting and retaining health care workers across the Interior Health region showed little sign of abating. The province's investment in a new $39.1-million Glenmerry Elementary School in Trail, expected to open in 2025, signalled commitment to the community's infrastructure, but health care remained the more urgent demand.

The Teck smelter in Trail continued to define the riding's economic and environmental character. Remediation of an estimated eight thousand contaminated properties in the Trail area from historic emissions remained ongoing, and air quality monitoring continued to flag sulphur dioxide levels. The smelter's long-term viability—and the hundreds of well-paying jobs it supported—was a concern that sat alongside environmental anxieties. The broader resource economy, including forestry and mining, faced structural headwinds as the mountain pine beetle's legacy reshaped the timber supply and global commodity markets fluctuated.

Housing affordability had begun to transform the West Kootenay in ways that were accelerating by 2024. Remote workers and retirees who discovered communities like Rossland and Castlegar during the pandemic continued to arrive, pushing up property values and rental costs. Morissette's record of building affordable housing as Fruitvale's mayor gave the issue a personal dimension in the campaign, as communities across the riding grappled with the tension between welcoming newcomers and ensuring that longtime residents could afford to stay. The broader cost-of-living squeeze—fuel prices, groceries, and utilities—compounded the housing pressure in a region where wages had not kept pace with rising costs.