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Khadija Flynn Answers 3 KCFN Questions - Kimberley 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.
Khadija Flynn is running for Kimberley City Councillor. You can learn more about their candidacy through their Facebook and Instagram — but first, please see below for Khadija'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 think that we have some really good programs and people in Kimberley who are already doing a lot to support local food production. I would like to see the city build on that work and make affordable and accessible food available to everyone.
One thing I'd like to explore is how the City could work with local organizations to help more people access programs like the Farmers' Market Nutrition Coupon Program, which helps people facing financial barriers buy fresh, local food. I think working with the Kimberley Cranbrook Food Network and other local organizations to understand what support they need would be a good place to start.
I would also support looking at whether there is suitable City owned land that could be used for community gardens, making City spaces available for local food markets where possible, and reviewing bylaws that might be making things unnecessarily difficult for local growers.
We already have a lot of good things going on here and I think there’s room for the City to make those programs more available and support the people who grow and produce our food.
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?
I think the City has a big role to play in supporting the organizations that are already helping people access food in Kimberley. We already have wonderful programs like Helping Hands Food Bank and the Healthy Kimberley Food Recovery Depot and I'd like to see the City help them continue doing that important work. I know firsthand how much work goes on with community organizations and how tough it is with limited funding, space and volunteers. Sometimes a little extra help can make a big difference.
I would certainly support how the City could help, whether that is in making City spaces available, helping with grants or in kind support where possible, helping organizations apply for outside funding or connecting them with other community partners. I think it’s important to actually talk to folks doing the work and figure out what would be most valuable for them.
I also think it's important to remember that food insecurity is often connected to other issues, like housing costs, transportation and the overall cost of living. While the City can't solve all of those problems, the decisions we make can still have an impact. I'd want to make sure we're looking at the bigger picture and considering how those decisions affect people who are already having a difficult time making ends meet.
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?
I’d like to see the city work with local food organizations, businesses, emergency services and regional partners to figure out where food and essential supplies could come from, how we would get them to people and what we would do if our usual transportation routes were cut off.
I think one of the things that’s really important is to remember that not everybody has the same ability to prepare for an emergency. Some people can’t afford to stock up on more groceries, some don’t have transportation, and others need help getting supplies or leaving their homes. We need to make sure those people aren’t overlooked when we’re making our plans.
I would also support looking at how we can better protect local food production from things like drought and extreme weather, so we’re not just preparing for emergencies but thinking about the long term challenges our region may face.
We’ve seen how quickly wildfire and other emergencies can affect our area. We need to be thinking about these things before we’re in the middle of an emergency, so we know who we’re working with, what resources we have and how we’re going to make sure people aren’t being left behind.
Many thanks to Khadija Flynn 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 Khadija's campaign through their Facebook and Instagram — and you can read responses from other candidates via our 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 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).
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