By David F. Rooney
For Russ Kinghorn, an engineer with extensive experience in forestry and mining, his foray into federal politics is a question of doing the right thing.
“If you say the system is broken but you don’t do anything about it then are you part of the problem or part of the solution?” the Cranbrook resident asked local Conservatives who went to meet him at the Sangha Bean café on Saturday evening.
“I’d like to part of the solution.”
Kinghorn is the only man seeking to succeed retiring MP Jim Abbott as the party’s candidate during the next federal election who has so far visited Revelstoke. The other candidates — Sparwood Mayor David Wilkes, Cranbrook lawyer John Zimmer and Creston City Councillor Wesley Graham — will be here on Tuesday, March 15, along with Kinghorn, to speak to local Tories before they vote for the man they think can best represent their party. Voting will take place at the Community Centre between 5 pm and 8 pm.
A middle-of-road Conservative Kinghorn thinks that the communities of the riding have been well served by Abbott but continue to need attention.
He believes that as an engineer with real-world experience in forestry and mining he is the best person to work on behalf of riding communities that have been battered by the softwood lumber war, erosion of the forestry and mining sectors and now the economic recession.
“There’s a real lack of appreciation for what we have to deal with here in the Interior,” he said. “That’s one of the things I bring to the table.
If you’re a local Conservative Party member and intend to vote on Tuesday, you’ll be able to meet Kinghorn and the other candidates at the Community Centre on Tuesday. Voting begins at 5 pm and ends at 8 pm.
