List of Kamloops-area candidates beginning to shape up as federal election campaign begins

Candidate list shaping up

Photo: Elections Canada

Voters now have a better idea which names will be on the ballots in the two Kamloops ridings when votes are cast in next month's federal election, but several question marks remain.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney called Canada’s 45th general election on Sunday, and voters will go to the polls April 28. Party leaders kicked off their campaigns on Monday morning.

In Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, incumbent Conservative Frank Caputo will be seeking his second term in Ottawa.

He will be going up against fellow lawyer Iain Currie, who got his paperwork into the Liberal Party last week, and Chris Enns, who is listed as the People's Party of Canada's candidate for the riding.

The New Democrats say they are hoping to finalize and announce a candidate by the end of the week and the Green Party has not responded to queries from Castanet Kamloops.

In the new Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies riding, Conservative incumbent Mel Arnold will take up the Tory nomination.

Fourth-generation Revelstoke resident Michael Henry has been named as the riding's candidate for the People’s Party of Canada, according to the party’s website, and the Green Party has announced Grindrod farm owner Owen Madden as its candidate.

Liberal riding chair Prakash Koirala said the party is still awaiting approval of its Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies candidate, and NDP electoral district president Bill Roberts said he expects to announce a candidate on Monday or Tuesday.