B.C. municipal election 2018: Castlegar

Candidates

To be announced.

Boundary

This city in the West Kootenays is located at a point where the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers meet. The Crowsnest Highway runs right through Castlegar, and Highway 22 will take you there from the south.

Population (2016)

8,039

History

Castlegar received its name from Edward Mahon, an Irish investor in mining sites who named the area after his home in Ireland.

First inhabited by the Lakes Indian people, the Castlegar area was largely known for fur trading up until 1855, when gold was discovered on the Pend d’Oreille River.

Gold strikes would happen between Castlegar and Nelson 12 years later.

The first townsite was established in 1888 — known as Sproat’s Landing, it included a warehouse and a store that serviced sternwheeler traffic that was tied to the Canadian Pacific Railway’s mainline in Revelstoke, according to Destination BC.

Then, over 5,000 Doukhobors fled Russia and immigrated to the Castlegar, obtaining land and living a “communal lifestyle,” beginning in 1908.

Castlegar was incorporated as a city in 1966.

Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)

$113,237

Crime Severity Index (CSI) – 2016

RCMP – municipal

103.12 (+30.12)

RCMP – rural

37.56 (-13.34)

Violent Crime Severity Index (VCSI) – 2016

RCMP – municipal

53.44 (+6.33)

RCMP – rural

28.28 (-31.62)

Political representation

Federal

Richard Cannings (NDP)

Provincial

Katrine Conroy (BC NDP)