After 10 years of service in regional government, Wendy Booth is eyeing a foray into federal politics.
Booth, who has served as the director for Electoral Area F of the Regional District of East Kootenay for the last decade, is not running again in the upcoming civic election, having announced her intent to seek the Kootenay Columbia nomination for the Conservative Party of Canada.
“It’s something that I’ve been pondering for quite some time,” said Booth. “I’ve had conservative values all my life and voted that way and been a member of the party for a long time.
“And really, it’s about my decision not to run for the regional district anymore. I’ve been in that role for 10 years and had achieved a lot of successes and one of them was Windermere water and getting potable water to that community and that’s why I ran initially in 2008.”
During her time with the Regional District, Booth has served on the Columbia Basin Trust board, as well as the Columbia Valley Community Economic Development Advisory Commission. Additionally, she has also served in a higher profile role with the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, serving on the executive since 2013 and as president last year.
Booth grew up in Toronto, before moving out to the Columbia Valley after completing her Business Administration Degree in Quebec, where she founded Columbia Rafting Adventures and later established a water sports gear importing company with her husband.
Booth outlined a number of issues she would like to advocate for throughout her campaign for the Tory nomination.
“From this particular area, there are a number of things I’ve heard from the communities and issues I wanted to bring forward,” Booth said. “Parks Canada management of fuel, particularly — fuel management in the national parks, infrastructure and transportation are keys for community successes. The Trans-Canada highway between Revelstoke and Golden is always a hot topic for community safety and social and economic transportation of goods and people.
“Education in the Cranbrook area — we have the College of the Rockies that has the opportunity to have more programming for skilled trades that can keep jobs and keep people living in the community, which is also really important.”
Only members of the Conservative Party of Canada can vote for the party candidate. There is no set date for the nomination election, however, memberships must be purchased by Oct. 4.