What the Business Community Can Expect from Candidates Should They Get Elected

The provincial government election takes place on October 24. Prior to heading to the polls, the Chamber asked the four candidates two questions. Question one explores public safety.

Helping Fill In Some Blanks Prior to October 24 Election

On October 24, British Columbians will head to the polls to vote in the provincial election. Decisions made in Victoria play a significant role in how small and medium-sized businesses in the Greater Nelson operate, and ultimately succeed. 

With campaigns now in high gear, we reached out to the four candidates in the Kootenay Central riding to see what they are thinking about specific issues impacting our region’s business community. 

Below you will find the answers to our first question: 

Public safety, open drug use and the visible increase of issues relating to homelessness in Nelson are a concern for small and medium sized businesses. What is your party’s plan to assist with the ongoing problems of mental health and addiction, and what will you specifically do to help the Greater Nelson business community in this regard?

The British Columbia provincial election takes place on October 24, 2026. On final voting day, the polls will be open from 8 am to 8 pm. There are several voting stations set up throughout our region and most residents should have received an Elections BC cards in the mail. 

If you want more information on where to vote, what you need to bring and how to register, head to the Elections BC website.

Brittny Anderson – BC NDP

Thank you so much for asking this question. I am really glad we got to discuss it in full, in person, last week when we met with chamber members. 

Everyone should feel safe in their community. I know how important this is to community members and businesses alike. We’re taking action to address the challenges with new efforts to target repeat offenders in shoplifting, vandalism, and street disorder, building on our successful work going after repeat violent offenders. 

Kootenay Central BC NDP candidate Brittny Anderson.

Our government has delivered well over a hundred units of affordable housing in Nelson alone. This includes purchasing the North Shore Inn, which is currently being renovated and will soon become 30 units of supportive housing, as well as Elephant Mountain Place on Government Road, which recently opened to provide 43 new units of supportive housing. On the provincial scale, the BC NDP has opened 860 new addiction treatment beds since 2017, and doubled the number of beds for youth. We also have 35 Foundry Centres open or on the way (including in the Kootenay Boundary) to provide young people with mental health and addictions services. 

I was also able to bring Premier David Eby here to Nelson to join small business owners, frontline workers, police, and representatives from the City of Nelson at a roundtable to discuss these issues. It was so important for the Premier to hear directly from these community members and played a key part in his advocacy with the federal government to reform bail policy – which led directly to the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act which was passed earlier this year. 

The BC NDP’s plan is to keep expanding and building services that help support people with mental health and addictions challenges. The Conservatives have said that healthcare is going to “take the brunt” of their cuts; that means fewer services and supports for people and our communities. It’s just like before: The BC Liberals made deep cuts to addictions and healthcare across B.C. when they were in government, like when they tried to turn the Nelson Hospital into a first aid post. The BCNDP is determined to resolve these problems and build stronger, healthier communities where everyone feels safe. 

Nicole Charlwood – BC Green Party

I live here. I’ve made my home in Blewett for 25 years, raised two kids here, and shop on Baker Street. As a former Nelson City Councillor, I’ve heard from owners scrubbing a doorway before opening, and from people who had nowhere else to go. Both deserve better.

Kootenay Central BC Green Party candidate Nicole Charlwood.

Downtown Nelson is carrying a crisis that belongs to the health and housing systems. Shop owners, police and local non-profits are filling gaps the province has left open for years. Rural towns feel it most because help is so far away.

The BC Greens treat this as a health and housing problem, because that is what actually gets people off the street and into care.

• Mental health care covered through the public system, so people get help before they reach crisis.
• Voluntary treatment available when someone is ready, not after a long wait or a two-hour drive. It would be matched with community outpatient care so recovery holds.
• Mental health as a fourth 911 option, with community crisis teams outside the big cities. Trained responders take mental health calls, and police get their time back for police work.
• Overdose prevention and drug checking that connect people to recovery and move drug use out of doorways and alleys.
• A restarted Community Housing Fund to build non-market homes, so people leaving treatment have somewhere to go.

What I will do for the Greater Nelson business community:

1. Push for treatment and crisis response close to home. I’ll use budget estimates to press for treatment beds and crisis teams in the Kootenays, and for answers on rural RCMP vacancies and response times.
2. Fight for multi-year funding, not one-time grants. I work in youth mental health services and have secured $1.5 million in provincial funding for this region this year. Early help is the cheapest help, and stable funding keeps it working.
3. Bring the right people to one table. I’ve pledged regular riding town halls. I’ll hold one with downtown businesses, police, Interior Health and outreach groups, so what you see on the street gets to Victoria.
4. Answer to you, not a party whip. I’ll publish every vote I cast and why.

Send the right help, and our police, our businesses and our neighbours all get some of their time back.

Hunter Corrigal – OneBC

Public safety, open drug use and homelessness are among the most serious challenges facing communities across B.C., and Nelson is no exception. Small business owners often feel it first, right at their front doors. 

Kootenay Central OneBC candidate Hunter Corrigal.

I come to this issue with front-line experience. I served as a Sheriff in Fort St. John, where I saw firsthand how the justice system works, and where it doesn’t. Later, as a private security contractor in Cranbrook, I was tasked specifically with managing the impacts of homelessness. I was on site at encampments, took part in community discussions on workable solutions, and sat at Cranbrook’s “situation table,” a multi-agency working group that responds to acute cases by cutting through bureaucracy, improving communication between agencies and putting immediate interventions in place. 

That work taught me that public safety and compassion are not opposing goals. Communities deserve to be safe, and people struggling with addiction deserve a real path to recovery. 

OneBC’s plan reflects both:

• Replace consumption sites with treatment and recovery centres, and halt new sites.
• End prescribed safer supply.
• Provide treatment and housing in the most severe cases, including involuntary care where clearly needed, with proper clinical and legal safeguards. 
• Focus enforcement and the courts on repeat violent offenders, so the same small group isn’t cycling through the system. 
• Publish real outcomes, such as treatment completion, repeat overdoses and repeat offending, so the public can judge what’s working.

For the Greater Nelson business community, I would: 

• Support and strengthen multi-agency collaboration, like the situation-table model, bringing police, health, social services, bylaw and local business to the same table where possible. 
• Cut the permitting and funding red tape that holds back the non-profits, community groups and support networks already stepping up. 
• Support practical tools such as safer urban design and clear lines of communication, so businesses know who to call and get a response. 
• Act as the conduit between Victoria and this community, carrying your concerns to the province and making sure provincial resources reach Nelson. 

No single policy will fix this overnight. But with honest measurement, local collaboration and a clear focus on recovery and safety, we can make real progress. 

Gordon Skulnec – Conservative Party

Public safety is one of my top priorities. Residents should feel safe walking through downtown Nelson and our parks, and local businesses should not have to contend with repeated theft, vandalism, and threatening behaviour. At the same time, people struggling with addiction and mental health challenges deserve access to meaningful treatment and support.

Kootenay Central Conservative party candidate Gordon Skulnec.

I believe we need to address the root causes of these problems rather than continue relying on approaches that have failed to deliver lasting results. We need greater access to addiction treatment, mental health services, and long-term recovery support. Helping someone overcome addiction is only the beginning. We must also provide the support necessary for them to rebuild their lives and reintegrate into our communities.

We also need greater accountability for repeat offenders. Chronic shoplifting and property crime have serious consequences for small businesses and cannot be accepted as normal.

The Conservative Party of BC has committed to adding 500 RCMP officers, expanding police training to deploy 250 additional officers, and hiring 50 additional Crown prosecutors to help address court backlogs.

But provincial commitments must translate into meaningful improvements here in Nelson.

As MLA, I would work directly with the Nelson Police Department, municipal representatives, the Chamber of Commerce, and local businesses to identify public safety priorities and advocate for additional provincial resources to strengthen downtown policing and address repeat property crime. I would also work with Interior Health and local service providers to identify gaps in mental health and addiction treatment throughout the West Kootenay, advocating for timely access to treatment and long-term recovery services. I would maintain regular communication with the business community, bring their concerns directly to the appropriate provincial ministries, and follow up to ensure progress is being made.

I don’t believe we have to choose between compassion for vulnerable people and safe streets for our residents and businesses. We can and must deliver both.

My commitment is to be an accessible, accountable MLA who works collaboratively to make Nelson safer, support our businesses, and ensure our community’s concerns are heard in Victoria.

Learn more about the Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce here.