In advance of the October 2022 Municipal Elections, the North Okanagan Labour Council has undertaken a rigorous endorsement process in search of the best candidates for everyday working class folks and friends of organized labour and trade unions to support in their bid to be elected to municipal positions in the Valley.
The Labour Council reviewed several applications and assessed them on several metrics. These included past experience, volunteerism, history with unions, involvement with community organizations and NPOs, assessment of critical issues, their platform, and their positions on topics of interest to labour including, but not limited to, living wages, pay equity, affordability, housing, the environment, contracting out of public services, public private partnerships, shopping local, job creation, ethical procurement, and truth and reconciliation.
In order to have been considered for endorsement, candidates needed to submit an application package by the deadline. If a particular individual was not selected through this process, it either means they did not apply for endorsement, or that they were not successful in the approval process that was very competitive this year.
The 2022 candidates that received an endorsement from the North Okanagan Labour Council are:
For Kelowna City Council:
• Davis Kyle
• Gordon Lovegrove
• Loyal Wooldridge
• Mohini Singh
For Vernon City Council:
• Kelly Fehr
For Vernon School District 22 Trustee:
• Mark Olsen
in a statment sent to media the council said, "Each of these candidates have demonstrated through the application process and in their record that they have a sincere interest in advocating for the interest of working-class citizens in their respective communities. Each has demonstrated their commitment to closely working with our organization in the future should they been elected in the Fall, and we look forward to that opportunity. For reference, a non-exhaustive list of the affiliates we represent can be found at https://www.oklabour.org/our_affiliates".