By David F. Rooney
Conservative David Wilks will be the next Member of Parliament for Kootenay Columbia. He won the riding with 23,886 votes, or 55.9% of the vote. His closest competitor, the NDP’s Mark Shmigelsky won 14,161 votes or 33.2%.
“This is going to give us four years of stability,” Wilks said. “I got beat up a bit for not attending a couple of election forums but it is what it is. I’m humbled just by being elected and asked to serve as MP for Kootenay Columbia.”
His closest competitor, New Democrat Mark Shmigelsky, was not available for comment.
According to Elections Canada Returning Officer Leanne Jensen the way the vote broke down in Revelstoke will not be available until after all results have been validated. That will take place on Thursday afternoon. However, we can tell you how the vote shook out across the riding (please remember that these are preliminary results and the final results will be issued on Thursday):
- David Wilks, Conservative Party — 23,886 — 55.9%
- Mark Shmigelsky, New Democratic Party — 14,168 — 33.2&
- Bill Green, Green Party — 2,532 — 5.9&
- Betty Aitchison, Liberal Party — 1,492 — 3.5&
- Brent Bush, Independent — 643 — 1.5%
The voter turnout in Monday’s election was 42,714 of 68,576 registered voters. That’s a voter participation rate of 64.2%.
