.png)
Jeremy Youngward 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.
Jeremy Youngward is running for Cranbrook City Councillor. You can learn more about their candidacy through their Facebook page — but first, please see below for Jeremy'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?
To begin with I would assess the current needs and available resources. I would collaborate with groups like the Community Produce Gardens to see what they would require to expand their program. Speaking to them during this campaign, expansion is possible, however each garden space would need it’s own coordinator and group of volunteers. I would further examine our bylaws to make sure there are no unnecessary obstacles to having backyard greenhouses to extend the growing season, & would develop policies to allow for backyard chickens. I would further work with our local
developers to identify opportunities to include shared growing spaces in multi-unit housing, such as the gardens at the Broadstreet development. I would continue to support successful endeavors such as the weekly Farmer’s Market, which I would like to see be extended throughout the year, & if possible have a permanent indoor location.
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 best role for the city to play would be as reliable collaborator and ally to the stakeholder groups already doing great work in the city, The city could produce a food security task-force, along the same lines as the homelessness taskforce of the previous council, bringing together groups such as the Food Bank, Food Recovery, School District 5, the RDEK, the Ktunaxa and food retailers in order to more quickly identify where the challenges are and possible solutions. This taskforce can then report to council with a list of appropriate first steps. The city can further provide space suitable for growing, as a liaison between the province and these organizations, and assistance with grant-writing and fundraising.
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?
The first step is to treat food and water as we do heat and electricity – as an essential resource. Preemptive planning on what to do in a food emergency, not simply after the emergency has occurred, will save the city from a number of problems. And a pro-active approach is often the most cost-effective as well. This planning should identify food storage facilities, distribution sites, and suppliers. It should also start a line of communication between the city and various relevant stakeholders, including food retailers, transportation providers, and members of the food-security taskforce mentioned above. The plan should also identify which groups of individuals are most susceptible to losing access to food in the event of an emergency, such as the elderly, those with mobility issues, residents that rely on transit, and residents on public assistance. Given the needs of this last group, the plan should include contingencies for meal replacement, and the maintaining of community meal programs. And like any emergency plan thought should be given to transportation and power, as well as water access in the medium term, which would require regular upkeep of the city’s emergency deep water wells.
Many thanks to Jeremy Youngward 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 Jeremy's campaign through their Facebook page, and you can read responses from other candidates through our Municipal Election 2026 page (which we will continue to update as more responses come back from candidates).
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 for wherever you live, ElectionsBC is always a good spot online to visit for trustworthy election information.
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: Kimberley Cranbrook Food Network (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).
Comments