Green Party members in Nelson-Creston will be voting this week to choose their candidate for the 2017 provincial election. But Andy Shadrack won’t be on the ballot.
The party at the provincial level has told him they won’t accept him as a candidate. He knows their reason, but he is not allowed to tell us.
“I was told that the whole process is confidential so I cant talk about it,” he told the Star. “They said no on September 16, I appealed, and the appeal came back denied on September 23.”
Although he was told the reason for the refusal, the reason makes no sense to him, he said.
Shadrack is a veteran player in the West Kootenay political landscape, having run five times for the Greens federally and provincially.
On the Regional District of Central Kootenay board he served for three terms as the elected representative for Area D (north Kootenay Lake).
His initial reaction to being refused?
“I am shell-shocked,” he said.
“I have been crisscrossing the constituency for nine months, signing up over 200 people so I could participate in the race and there are a large number of people who are furious or perplexed as to what is going on.”
A provincial Green Party spokesperson, Stefan Jonsson, told the Star in an email that the reasons are confidential.
”The BC Greens application review committee is comprised of highly qualified and experienced BC Green members who ensure every application receives a thorough and fair review according to the application review procedures approved by Provincial Council,” he wrote.
Shadrack stressed that he is still very involved in environmental issues in the region and will continue to be.
“(The day I was refused) I had 50 people at my house doing a solar open house, and that was on the same day that I filed final argument before the BC Utilities Commission on an application by Fortis to change its net metering program.
“And I co-chair a water monitoring project at the north end of Kootenay lake.”
The other two people who filed nomination papers, Ramona Faust and Kim Charlesworth, were approved by the party.