Candidates talk environment

Candidates in the Oct. 19 provincial election will be tested on their environmental stance during the Sustainable Environment Network Society all-candidates forum.

The forum is set for Oct. 3, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Vernon’s Towne Theatre.

The Sustainable Environment Network Society (SENS) has invited candidates from the Vernon – Lumby riding and the Kelowna-Lake Country- Coldstream riding to take part in a non-partisan evening “so that residents can learn our candidates’ stance on a variety of topics prior to deciding who will best serve us all for the next four years.”

According to SENS, some of the topics that may be covered include food security and agriculture, water quality/quantity, watersheds, electrification, climate concerns, protection of nature and restoration, transportation, and fossil fuel use.

Citizens are encouraged to send in their own environmental questions to info@sensociety.org or to the SENS Facebook page.

“SENS has held numerous federal, provincial and civic all-candidate forums in the past to allow the public to learn about their local candidates,” SENS said in a press release.

SENS plans to livestream the event to accommodate those who are unable to attend in person.

The Towne Theatre, and its concession, will be open to the public around 6:30 p.m. for the public to meet candidates and to read answers, posted in large print, to a few questions previously sent to candidates.

Those questions will also be available by Oct. 3 on the SENS website and on the SENS Facebook page.

Candidates for Vernon-Lumby are NDP MLA Harwinder Sandhu, Conservative Dennis Giesbrecht and Independent Kevin Acton.

Candidates for Kelowna–Lake Country–Coldstream include NDP Anna Warwick-Sears, Independent Kevin Kraft and Conservative Tara Armstrong.