Okanagan-Westside was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada from 2001 to 2009.
It included the small cities of Westbank, Westside, Peachland, and Summerland, and extended from the city limit of Summerland (in the south) to the Okanagan Lake bridge, in Westside (north). Kelowna, the major city in the Okanagan, lies across the Okanagan Lake bridge. Encompassing land in both the South and Central Okanagan, this constituency's lands are well known for their semi-arid climate and high summer temperatures..
Demographics[edit]
| Population, 2001 | 47,678 |
| Population Change, 1996–2001 | 8.9% |
| Area (km²) | 1,959 |
| Pop. Density (people per km²) | 24 |
Geography[edit]
History[edit]
The area of this constituency was first settled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by European agriculturalists. Fruit growing, especially apple and cherry crops, were a major industry, although tourism, logging, mining, and now viticulture, have also been major industries in the region. The Okanogan peoples, an Interior Salish language group, have settled the area for several thousand years.
1999 redistribution[edit]
This electoral district was carved out of Okanagan West, Okanagan-Vernon and Okanagan-Penticton.
2008 redistribution[edit]
The electoral district was abolished in 2008 into Westside-Kelowna, Penticton and Fraser-Nicola.[1]
MLAs[edit]
- Rick Thorpe, Liberal (2001–2009)
Election results[edit]
| 2001 British Columbia general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||||
| Liberal | Rick Thorpe | 14,181 | 68.08 | $39,628 | ||||
| New Democratic | Ernie Dmetro Ursuliak | 3,176 | 15.25 | $4,535 | ||||
| Unity | Howard Lionel Hunt | 1,364 | 6.55 | $591 | ||||
| Marijuana | Teresa Taylor | 1,188 | 5.70 | $1,120 | ||||
| Action | Jack W. Peach | 921 | 4.42 | $1,186 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 20,830 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 127 | 0.61 | ||||||
| Turnout | 20,957 | 69.91 | ||||||
| 2005 British Columbia general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Liberal | Rick Thorpe | 12,148 | 54.39 | |||||
| New Democratic | Joyce Procure | 6,873 | 30.77 | |||||
| Green | Angela Reid | 2,262 | 10.13 | |||||
| Democratic Reform | Janice Marie Money | 1,051 | 4.71 | |||||
| Total | 22,334 | 100.00 | ||||||