Photo: Contributed

Egon Nielsen.

A council candidate in the Town of Osoyoos has withdrawn his candidacy, saying he just learned he lived outside the town's boundary and that there was no point to continue.

Egon Nielsen, 75, said he only learned after submitting his paperwork earlier this month that he lives within the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen rural Area A.

He has lived on Anarchist Mountain since last November.

Municipal candidates in B.C. do not have to live within in the boundaries of the area they are seeking election in.

"I wasn't discouraged. I just thought okay, never mind then," Nielsen said.

"If I had known I live in the RDOS, I would've run in the RDOS. But that's too late now."

Rural Osoyoos director Mark Pendergraft is the only candidate who put his name forward, and will be acclaimed for Area A on election day, Oct. 20. Pendergraft has been the area director since 2005 and was the RDOS chair from 2012 to 2016.

In Osoyoos, there are now nine council candidates running for four spots. Only two incumbents, C.J. Rhodes and Jim King, are seeking re-election. 

Water councillor candidate Sarabjit Rai also withdrew his candidacy before the Sept. 21 deadline.

That means the other two water councillor candidates, Kuldeep Dhaliwal and Claude Moreira, will both be acclaimed for the two positions. Dhaliwal and Moreira are the incumbents, and both were acclaimed in 2014 as well.