Ron Miles 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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Ron Miles is running for Cranbrook City Councillor. You can learn more about their candidacy through their website and Facebook page — but first, please see below for Ron'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?

None. I would first have to be satisfied that this is something within the legislative authority of local government and, if so, what support is there in the community for the possibility of taxes being raised to fund this initiative.

In the words of another candidate, this appears to be a prime example of the need for the City to “stick to the knitting.”

Frankly, this seems to me to be something the Columbia Basin Trust would support in its social initiatives.

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?

See above.

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 city has an emergency preparedness policy and coordinates with other organizations, including nongovernmental organizations (which includes the Columbia Basin Trust). This seems better placed at the committee level, of which the City participates.

I am mindful of the caution from President Reagan years ago, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” Again, in my view, local government needs to “stay in their lane”. My concern is local government taking over only to get in the way of solutions through bureaucracy rather than solving the problem.

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Many thanks to Ron Miles 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 Ron's campaign through their website and 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).