Arnold wins third term in North Okanagan-Shuswap

Mel Arnold, the incumbent Member of Parliament for the North Okanagan – Shuswap riding, has been re-elected.

The win was called after 50 of the 308 polls in the riding were counted, and Arnold holding 47 per cent of the votes, securing his third term serving the riding in the House of Commons.

North Okanagan-Shuswap result (Image credit: The Canadian Press)

By 10 p.m. on Election Night, 255 of the 308 polls in the riding had closed, and Arnold had received 46 per cent or 24,682 of the votes.

Arnold, who was leading the riding by over 14,000 votes at the time of publication, told Vernon Matters that we was very pleased to have won, even though there were no changes on the federal level, as the Liberals continued to hold on to their minority government.

All in all though, Arnold was happy with the voter turnout this year, which by 10 p.m. had seen nearly 44.5 of the available votes counted in the riding.

“It feels good that we’ve heard from the people and that our party’s platform and policies have resonated in the people here in the North Okanagan – Shuswap more than any of the others, and I’m happy to be able to continue to representing all of the constituents here,” said Arnold.

“Whether you voted for me or not, my job now as an MP is to represent this riding in Ottawa, and I plan on continuing to do that and I hope to have continued support.”

When he returns to Ottawa, Arnold said the focus will be on continuing the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing affordability, the latter being a key issue he heard from constituents while on the campaign trail.

“Whether it’s home prices, whether it’s the inflation that causes the cost of groceries and heating your homes and bills for your vehicles, it’s pushing it out of the range for those on lower or fixed incomes, and it’s all being caused by the out of control spending by this government.”

He said the Conservatives ran on a platform that wanted to help small businesses and get people back to work with hiring incentives, and will try to push those ideals onto the government when they return as the official opposition.

Arnold also told Vernon Matters that he was impressed by the campaigns run by his competitors.

“I want to congratulate the other candidates. It takes a lot of nerve to put your name forward, and it was a great campaign that my volunteers put together and I’m glad to see the results.”

Arnold also wanted to thank all the people who came out to vote, as well as his campaign team, who he said put in “countless hours to get us where we are tonight.”

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