UPDATE: B.C. Conservatives give nod to Singh over Gray for Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding
Published 7:18 am Thursday, September 24, 2026
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UPDATE 7 a.m. 9/24
Not so fast.
Mere hours after longtime Kelowna politician Tracy Gray announced her attempt to become the the BC Conservative candidate for the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding in the 2026 Provincial Elections, the party announced a different candidate.
Around 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday night, the BC Conservative Party announced Pavneet Singh as its candidate in the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding.
Singh is currently the BC Conservatives Vice-President and was previously its Director at Large.
“Pavneet Singh is a successful entrepreneur, community advocate, and political leader who has called the Okanagan home for more than 25 years,” stated a press release from the Conservatives on Wednesday night. “Through his business ventures and community involvement, he has built strong relationships with residents, local businesses, first responders, and community organizations.”
The Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding is currently held by Independent MLA Tara Armstrong, who hasn’t determined yet if she will run in the 2026 provincial election.
The election takes place on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Original
Longtime Kelowna politician Tracy Gray will once again be attempting to run for public office.
Gray, a former councillor for the City of Kelowna and former Conservative MP for the – now defunct – Kelowna-Lake Country electoral district, announced on Sept. 23 that she is bidding to become the BC Conservative candidate for the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding in the 2026 Provincial Elections.
“Due to a rapidly evolving political landscape in BC, and after hearing from hundreds of people in our community who have reached out to me, I have put forth my intention to the Conservative Party of British Columbia to seek to become their candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream,” Gray said in her announcement.
“This snap provincial election overlapping the municipal election is a callous move by Premier Eby and the NDP. It is disrespectful to all the people running municipally and all their volunteers,” she continued.
“That being said, we have an opportunity to finally get rid of this NDP government whose record includes drug decriminalization, focusing on ‘safe supply’ instead of treatment and recovery, childcare closures, hospital department closures, high local unemployment, proposals to increase PST, short-term rental rules that hurt local tourism, genuine property rights concerns and record-breaking provincial deficits – during a time of US tariffs, retaliations and trade uncertainty.”
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, B.C. Premier David Eby dissolved the legislature, calling for a snap election, while saying he wants to strengthen the province from “MAGA-style politics” and from the effects of U.S.-imposed tariffs.
Prior to her announcement, Gray’s most recent election campaign failed after narrowly losing the race for the Kelowna electoral district to her political rival, Liberal candidate Stephen Fuhr, during the 2025 Federal Election.
The 2026 Provincial Election will be Gray’s first foray into provincial politics.
Currently, the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding is held by Tara Armstrong. Armstrong won the seat during the 2024 Provincial Elections as a member of the BC Conservatives. She later defected from the party to join her fellow Conservative MLA Dallas Brodie to form OneBC. A fallout between Brodie and Armstrong flipped who had control over the party multiple times, but ultimately ended with Armstrong sitting as an Independent.
It is currently unclear if Armstrong will run in the 2026 Provincial Election.