And as the weather cools, expect this fall’s election to start heating up as Canada gets ready to go to the polls on Oct.19.
Voters can now brace themselves for a plethora of speeches, public appearances and plenty of political promises made by candidates vying for their favour.
While some voters may already have a party which they choose to support – no matter who is running – others have more than two months to get to know the various candidates in the new riding of South Okanagan — West Kootenay.
In this information age it’s more important than ever to be media literate, to question the source and motivation of the media you’re looking at, and to gather a variety of viewpoints, even if you’d rather gouge your eyes out than listen to Ezra Levant or David Suzuki.
How to sort it all out is something the Western News team will be doing right alongside our readers.
As part of the Western News election coverage we will be running candidate profiles, that started last week, in every Friday edition of the newspaper so readers can get to know about those running for MP in our riding. As you will see on Page 3 in this issue, we will ask the candidates a series of six questions over the next six weeks leading up to the election. The question and answer series will run every Wednesday.
In addition, the Western News is planning to host an all-candidates meeting at the Penticton Seniors Drop-In Centre on Sept. 26. Full details on that will be released shortly.
Our website features a dedicated election section, which will gather all the federal stories we write into one convenient spot. You’ll see the above-mentioned profiles, the Q&A in the candidates’ own words, stories and graphics applying the federal election directly to local issues.
We invite our reader’s to email us, editor@pentictonwesternnews.com, with what questions they would like to ask the candidates. After all, a newspaper serves its readers and its community – not its politicians. Everyone would be better served to remember that.