Dew off to good start

UPDATE: 8:15 p.m.

With three ballot boxes now being counted, votes are beginning to trickle in for the Kelowna-Mission riding just 15 minutes after the polls closed.

With about 1,600 votes being counted in the riding, BC Conservative Party candidate Gavin Dew has taken the lead with about 52% of the votes cast so far. BC NDP candidate Harpreet Badohalis is currently in second place with 32% of the vote, while Independent candidate Ashley Ramsay has about 11% of the vote.

Green Party candidate Billy Young it bringing up the rear with just under 5% of the vote so far.

ORIGINAL: 5 p.m.

Four candidates are vying to represent the Kelowna Mission riding Saturday, after one-term BC United MLA Renee Merrifield opted not to run for re-election.

This year, voters in the riding have the option of BC NDP candidate Harpreet Badohal, BC Conservative candidate Gavin Dew, Independent candidate Ashley Ramsay and BC Green Party candidate Billy Young.

The riding has long been held by the BC Liberal Party, which then changed to the BC United last year, but the party dropped out of the election back in August.

After six new ridings were created across the province this election, a fourth Central Okanagan riding has been added. This meant that a small portion of the old Kelowna Mission riding, along Benvoulin Road north of KLO Road, has been added to the new Kelowna Centre riding.

This story will be updated with results as they come in.

Harpreet Badohal

Badohal works as a registered health and safety professional with WorkSafeBC and he's lived in Kelowna since 2016 with his wife and two children. He told Castanet he has 15 years of experience working with governments in both B.C. and Saskatchewan.

“My purpose is for selfless service. I was already working with safety in the workplace, so this gives me an opportunity to serve the larger community,” he said.

Gavin Dew

Dew moved to Kelowna last year and has since opened up a childcare facility in the city with his wife. He previously ran as a candidate for the BC Liberal Party in Vancouver in 2016 and ran for leadership of the BC United party in 2022, but lost the bid to Kevin Falcon.

“We need to make sure we are all consolidated around the alternative for change and that’s the conservatives,” Dew told Castanet. “We obviously want to end up with a majority government to get the province back on track, but to form a minority government is entirely possible as well.”

Ashley Ramsay

Ramsay is the CEO and co-founder of the Kelowna animation studio Yeti Farm Creative, and she's highlighted her experience in several industries like technology, film, animation, gaming, and digital media.

She was initially named as the BC United candidate for the riding, but chose to run as an independent when her party bowed out of the election back in August.

“We need change and I do feel that I am the most capable currently in the riding to create that change for this specific riding,” Ramsay said.

Billy Young

According to his biography on the BC Green Party website, Young has founded “several arts organizations.”

Young was the only candidate in the riding who didn't speak with Castanet throughout the campaign and he didn't attend the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce candidates forum earlier this month.