Former NDP candidate tells Kelowna voters to back Liberals

A man who ran for the NDP in the 2021 federal election has revealed he’s backing the Liberals on April 28.

Cade Desjarlais, who stood for the New Democrats in Kelowna–Lake Country in the year that Justin Trudeau won his third election, said that this year’s vote was too important to consider a third party.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney, he said, is the best candidate to deal with Donald Trump as the US–Canada trade war rages on, and the former central banker must therefore be given a “strong majority.”

Desjarlais won more than 18 per cent of the vote in 2021, an impressive result given his minuscule budget of just over $5,000.

It was the best result for the NDP in that riding since 2011.

But now he wants those voters to “throw their support behind” Liberal candidate Stephen Fuhr, who served as the constituency’s MP between 2015 and 2019.

Tracy Gray, who won in 2019 and 2021, got more than 30,400 votes in the last election.

Liberal candidate Tim Krupa – now one of Carney’s advisers – came second with a little over 17,700 votes.

Were Krupa’s and Desjarlais’ votes combined in 2021, Gray would still have won, though by only a whisker.

With the new boundaries for the riding suggesting a more closely fought battle this time round, a mass defection from the NDP to the Liberals could be excellent news for Fuhr and, by extension, Carney.

Below is a letter written by Desjarlais explaining his decision:

My name is Cade Desjarlais, and I am writing to express my enthusiastic endorsement for Steve Fuhr in the upcoming federal election in the Kelowna Riding. As the NDP Candidate in 2021 and as a student leader in our community, I have had the sincere privilege to work with political parties and decision-makers of all stripes – what has become evidently clear is that Kelowna needs someone with well-rounded leadership, like Steve’s, back in Ottawa.

Each and every election cycle we often hear how this is the "most important election." I think I have even said it a few times myself.

Although this has become an often-repeated statement, it’s never been truer. The threat our country faces requires real action and real leadership; it requires reaching across the aisle, putting forward a strong vision for Canada, and electing those best suited to serve.

Steve Fuhr and Mark Carney are those people.

Although I was the former NDP candidate in Kelowna, and battled against this idea of strategic voting, this is not the same situation. Voting for Steve is not a strategic vote, it is the right vote. Steve has the experience, dedication, drive, and commitment to represent Canada in the face of global uncertainty, and most importantly, in the face of Donald Trump. As former NDP leader Tom Mulcair has said, this is a two-horse race.

Let’s protect workers, protect the middle class, protect social services, and most importantly, protect our country.

Let’s come together and on April 28th, 2025, and elect Steve Fuhr as Kelowna’s newest Member of Parliament.

Thank you,

Thumbnail photo credit: X/Mark Carney/Jagmeet Singh