Central Okanagan political candidates are gearing up for a campaign after B.C. Premier John Horgan officially terminated his minority government agreement with the B.C. Green Party on Sept. 21 and called an election for Oct. 24.

BC Liberals Norm Letnick and Ben Stewart sa国际传媒� who previously represented the Kelowna-Lake Country and Kelowna West ridings respectively sa国际传媒� will both be back on the ballot in October alongside a new face.

Local developer Renee Merrifield, will be running for the Liberals in Kelowna-Mission. That riding was formerly held by Steve Thomson but he announced in December he would not be seeking reelection after more than a decade in the legislature.

Letnick and Stewart both maintain that this election has been called sheerly out of the political interest of the BC NDP, calling the snap election sa国际传媒渦nnecessary.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淲e have a fixed election date for a reason: so politicians like Mr. Horgan cansa国际传媒檛 try to arrange election dates when it suits political parties,sa国际传媒� said Letnick. sa国际传媒淗esa国际传媒檚 obviously putting his own needs above those of the province.sa国际传媒�

READ MORE: Citing stability, B.C. Premier calls snap election for Oct. 24

Letnick said he hopes people see the election call for sa国际传媒渨hat it issa国际传媒� and go to the polls with that in mind.

Stewart said the election call is sa国际传媒減olitical opportunismsa国际传媒� on Horgansa国际传媒檚 part.

sa国际传媒淗e clearly doesnsa国际传媒檛 want to have any impediments to be able to govern,sa国际传媒� Stewart said. sa国际传媒淎nd working with the CASA agreement (with the Greens), which theysa国际传媒檝e done successfully for the last three-plus years, wasnsa国际传媒檛 acceptable I guess.sa国际传媒�

At a news conference in his home community of Langford Sept. 21, Horgan said he has sa国际传媒渟truggled mightilysa国际传媒� with the decision to call an early vote, but the long duration of the pandemic requires stability. That stability is eroded three and a half years into his term with former B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver sitting as an independent and preparing to retire, he said.

sa国际传媒淚 believe the best way forward is to put the politics behind us,sa国际传媒� Horgan said, adding that sticking to the legislated election schedule would be sa国际传媒渢ime well wasted.sa国际传媒�

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com

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