Four months before the provincial election, the BC Liberals have yet to announce candidates in either Nelson-Creston or Kootenay West.
However, party spokesman Sam Oliphant said Thursday they are getting closer and disagreed with a suggestion the governing party is having a hard time finding people.
“No, I wouldn’t say that,” he told the Star. “We’re actually doing quite well. Obviously they’re tough ridings. They’ll be a challenge, but we’re quite happy with how things are going. We definitely have some people in mind.”
The only rumoured candidate to date in Nelson-Creston is Creston town councillor Wes Graham, who wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Oliphant said party policy is not to comment on potential candidates before they have announced. “By the end of the month we’ll be pretty close to having some news,” he said.
Incumbent New Democrats Michelle Mungall and Katrine Conroy have already been renominated in Nelson-Creston and Kootenay West respectively.
Sjeng Derkx is running for the Green Party in Nelson-Creston, although the Greens don’t have anyone lined up in Kootenay West yet.
In the 2009 election, Josh Smienk ran for the Liberals in Nelson-Creston and Brenda Binnie was the party’s standard bearer in Kootenay West.
The Greens fielded Andy Morel in Kootenay West and Sean Kubara in Nelson-Creston. The Communist Party also had a candidate in Kootenay West and the Conservatives ran in Nelson-Creston.