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Nelson man seeks Kootenay-Columbia Green nomination

The man who won the Nelson Star’s Get Fit Challenge last year is now ready for a different challenge.
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Nelson’s Keith Page was one of five participants in the Nelson Star’s 2013 Get Fit Challenge. Now he’s seeking the Kootenay-Columbia Green Party nomination.

The man who won the Nelson Star’s Get Fit Challenge last year is now ready for a different challenge.

Keith Page is seeking the federal Green Party nomination in the Kootenay-Columbia riding.

He’s one of two candidates for the position, along with Bill Green of Kimberley. The nomination vote will be held December 6.

Page and Green are on a tour that begins Tuesday night in Nelson at the Seniors Centre on Vernon Street at 7 p.m. They’re also in Kaslo Wednesday at the Bluebelle Bistro from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

“We’re excited to have a couple nominees step up to the plate,” said Devon Caron of the Kootenay-Columbia Green Party riding association, “and looking forward to generating some excitement by having a nomination vote networked between meetings in all the major centres.”

Meanwhile, incumbent Conservative MP David Wilks will run for re-election. He has served as the riding’s representative since 2011. Wilks was the only nominee for the position, said Dave Reeves, president of the Conservative riding association.

The NDP will choose a candidate in the spring, said riding president John Chisamore. There’s no word yet from the Liberals.

The riding has been dominated by the Reform/Conservative party since 1993, when Jim Abbott was first elected. He retired in 2011 and was replaced by Wilks.

Wilks won in 2011 with 55.9 per cent of the vote, earning almost 10,000 more than runner-up Mark Shmigelsky of the NDP.

The riding’s boundaries have since been expanded to include Nelson, Kaslo, and Salmo, which are traditional NDP strongholds.

The next federal election is set for October 15, 2015.

— With files from Alex Cooper, Revelstoke Times Review