Bruce Murdoch Answers 3 KCFN Questions - Cranbrook Municipal Election, October 2026

Municipal elections matter. 

From land use and infrastructure to affordability, emergency preparedness, community services and local food systems (to name just a few)... politics and public policy have real consequences in our everyday lives.

With Kimberley and Cranbrook soon to be hitting the municipal ballot boxes — Advance Voting is open Wednesday, October 7 & Wednesday, October 14, with General Voting Day on Saturday, October 17 — the Kimberley Cranbrook Food Network recently narrowed our many possible interconnected food-system questions down to three (3) that we sent to all candidates for Mayor and City Council in both communities.

We're sharing their responses on our website/socials as they come back to us to help residents (which includes ourselves) hear directly from the people seeking to represent us all on important community matters such as the three questions we asked below.

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Bruce Murdoch is running for Cranbrook City Councillor. You can learn more about his candidacy through his website and Facebook page — but first, please see below for Bruce's responses to our three KCFN questions, which we have shared as submitted.

Q1. What specific actions would you support at the municipal level to strengthen local food production and access to local food in our communities?

I would support a practical local food strategy that helps residents grow food, helps local producers reach customers, and makes better use of land and facilities we already have.

First, the City should identify suitable City-owned and underused land for community gardens, edible landscaping, and small-scale food production. I would promote the idea of utilizing the unused lands by the irrigation spray field, such as for a co-op greenhouse operation. We should also review zoning and permitting to ensure we are not creating unnecessary barriers to greenhouses, backyard hens, farm stands, neighbourhood markets or shared gardens in multi-unit housing. These actions are already contemplated in Cranbrook’s Official Community Plan.

Second, I would continue supporting successful initiatives such as the Cranbrook Farmers’ Market, Public Produce Garden, Urban Farm and Farm Kitchen. I was on the Advisory Planning Commission and recommended rezoning of the property for the Food Innovation Centre. The Public Produce Garden was created through a partnership involving the City, Community Connections, Rotary, Columbia Basin Trust and UBCM—showing what can be accomplished when the City brings partners together.

Third, I would work regionally with the RDEK, local producers, agrologists, neighbouring municipalities, and the Ktunaxa Nation. Food production does not stop at the city boundary. We should examine season-extending greenhouses, efficient irrigation, food processing, cold storage, distribution, and institutional purchasing. The RDEK Agricultural Plan has already identified land access, processing, and a regional agri-food strategy as priorities.

The City should not try to become a farming business. Its role should be to remove unnecessary obstacles, make appropriate land and infrastructure available, help secure outside funding, and support projects with credible plans for water, energy, operating costs, and long-term viability.

Q2. Food insecurity is affecting households in our communities, while local organizations providing food access and food-security programs are often working with limited resources. What role do you think the City should play in supporting this work, and what specific actions or partnerships would you pursue?

The City should be a dependable partner and coordinator, without duplicating the work of organizations that already have expertise and community trust.

I would support a regular food-security roundtable involving Community Connections, the Cranbrook Food Bank, Food Recovery, schools, Interior Health, producers, retailers, the RDEK, Ktunaxa partners and people with lived experience. Its purpose would be to identify gaps, coordinate grant applications, avoid duplication, and bring a short list of measurable priorities to Council. The Kimberley Cranbrook Food Network already provides a strong foundation for this cooperation.

Where a clear community benefit can be demonstrated, the City could provide modest multi-year grants, access to suitable municipal space, help with permits and assistance pursuing provincial, federal and foundation funding. Stable access to kitchens, refrigeration, storage and distribution space may sometimes be more valuable than a one-time grant.

The scale of existing community work deserves recognition. Cranbrook Food Recovery reports that in 2025 it distributed more than 201,000 pounds of food to local charities, redirected over 96,000 pounds to farmers, and supported more than 21,000 community-meal servings. The Food Bank also offers mobile pickup and limited delivery for residents facing transportation or mobility barriers.

Food access should therefore be considered in transit, housing and neighbourhood planning—not treated as a stand-alone charitable issue. At the same time, Council should advocate for stronger provincial and federal action on incomes, housing and social services, because municipal taxpayers cannot be expected to address the underlying causes of household food insecurity alone.

Q3. Wildfires, drought, extreme weather and disruptions to transportation can affect both local food production and our communities' access to food. How should the City incorporate food security into its emergency preparedness and climate-resilience planning?

Food and water should be treated as essential services in Cranbrook’s emergency planning—not addressed only after a highway closes or grocery shelves begin to empty.

I would support adding a specific food-security component to the City’s emergency plan. It should identify critical food facilities, suppliers, warehouses, commercial kitchens, cold storage, backup generators, and potential neighbourhood distribution sites. It should also establish working contacts and procedures involving grocery retailers, trucking companies, producers, the Food Bank, Food Recovery, community kitchens, the RDEK, neighbouring communities and Indigenous governments.

The plan must identify residents most likely to lose food access during an emergency, including seniors, people with disabilities, evacuees, low-income households, and residents without vehicles. It should cover food delivery, emergency transportation, dietary and medical needs, potable water, backup refrigeration, and continuity of community meal programs.

This planning is increasingly important because Cranbrook expects hotter conditions, drier summers, more extreme weather, and greater pressure on its water supply. Preparedness should therefore include drought planning, water-efficient food production, backup power, alternate transportation routes, and periodic emergency exercises with community organizations and businesses. I support regular maintenance of the 3 emergency deep water wells.

I would also pursue provincial, federal, and Columbia Basin funding for resilience projects rather than placing the full cost on municipal taxpayers. B.C. programs have previously supported local emergency planning, training, water-storage infrastructure, and regional livestock-relocation planning.

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Many thanks to Bruce Murdoch for taking the time to respond to our questions — and cheers to all of the candidates who have put their names forward to serve our communities in these important roles (and thank YOU for stopping by to read & add some more context to your voting decisions/discussions).

You can learn more about Bruce's campaign through his website and Facebook page, and you can read responses from other candidates through our KCFN Municipal Election 2026 page (which we will continue to update as more responses come back).

For official municipal voting information and full candidate information, remember where you live and then visit the City of Kimberley 2026 Election page and Kimberley candidate profiles (if you live in Kimberley), or the City of Cranbrook 2026 Election page and Cranbrook candidate profiles (if you live in Cranbrook).

And then remember, for the upcoming Municipal Election, whether you live in Kimberley or Cranbrook or somewhere else… these are the dates for voting in the upcoming Municipal Election:

• Advance Voting: Wednesday, October 7 & Wednesday, October 14

• General Voting Day: Saturday, October 17

Please Note: KCFN sent the same three questions to all candidates for Mayor and City Council in Kimberley and Cranbrook that we were able to find contact information for on Sunday, October 4th (27 candidates in total between both communities). Candidate responses are published as submitted, with only minor formatting changes if necessary for readability. KCFN does not endorse individual candidates, we just endorse informed & engaged voters (and we hope people find these Q&As as engaging as we do).