A candidate running as an independent in the upcoming provincial election says he wants to give a voice to local businesses.
Tom Prior will be an option for Nelson-Creston voters when they go to the polls on May 9. He said he decided to run in response to what he sees as a lack of money from the timber industry staying within the West Kootenay region.
"We used to have five mills between Meadow Creek and Kaslo. There's no mills [now]," said Prior. "So that's the awakening voice for me, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it."
Prior moved to Castlegar from North Bay, Ont., in 1977 to attend Selkirk College. He previously ran a retail store on Baker Street for 25 years, and was an early volunteer with the West Kootenay Eco-Society.
He also previously worked for the Green Party, but said he had no interest in running as their candidate. He criticized the three major parties for ignoring what he called a flagging local economy.
"I see a loud silence coming from our quasi-socialist forum here that has been the power base for the West Kootenay for a while now."
The Nelson-Creston riding has never previously elected an independent candidate. With the exception of one-term stints by the Social Credit party in the late 1980s and the Liberals in 2001 to 2005, the NDP have dominated Nelson-Creston since 1972.
But Prior said he has enough support to think he can shake up the election.
"I'm not naive enough to think one independent person running is enough to change things, but we need to start somewhere."