Candidate profile: Jim Wiedrick (Independent) – Columbia-Kootenay-Southern Rockies

This is a candidate profile for the April 28, 2025, federal election.

All candidates have been asked the same four questions, and were given a 600-word limit.

Some responses are edited for length and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rewind Radio News and Pattison Media.

Advance voting days are April 18, 19, 20 and 21. More info here.

1) Why are you running to be a Member of Parliament?

My key point in running to be MP is that our democracy is not working the way it’s supposed to right now. 

The political parties, the way they’re set up, are very keen on dividing us and making us fear other people. They have set themselves up where only their leader’s opinion matters, and everyone else has to do exactly what that person says. That’s the upside-down version of the way our democracy is supposed to work. Our democracy is supposed to take the broad opinion of a riding and represent that back up to Ottawa.

It seems like we’re going to need independents like myself if we’re going to bring that back. To me, that’s the solution to get rid of much of the cynicism and fear and bitterness that’s been building in our democracy.

2) Why should people vote for you, and what skills do you have that make you suitable for this role?

I’m now in my 25th year as a physician, and I currently work as an emergency room doctor at the Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson. I’ve been dealing with folks from all points of view in society, all walks of life, with a wide spectrum of needs. I’ve been in positions where I have to make critical decisions fast.

That amount of life experience with being married and raising a family of four kids means that I’ve come to appreciate the big, wide spectrum of issues that people have. I’ve got administrative experience in the medical field as a chief of staff and in doing committee work in and amongst administration. I see that when you’re deep in a bureaucracy, it’s really hard to make decisions. I’d like the opportunity to be able to represent my neighbors’ views on a bigger scale. 

3) What will you advocate for?

We need:

Accessible, timely healthcare that is patient-focused in its funding mechanism;

Ongoing, appropriate environmental stewardship while we still work to be self-sufficient as a country;

To look at affordability issues, simplify the tax code, streamline the way we have been bloating our government and allow people to keep more of the money that they earn;

To get serious about our infrastructure, and;

[A]t the foundation of some of our problems is our current first-past-the-post system of electing people, so I think our country would be much better served with a version of proportional representation. 

4) How do you believe Canada’s federal government should tackle its current predicament with the United States, and where do you sit on Canadian sovereignty? 

First and foremost, I am a proud Canadian patriot. I have no interest in any encroachment or annexation from someone else. 

A lot of people talk about [how] the president to the south of us has some personality features where he likes to try to intimidate other people, and he uses that as a negotiation strategy. But the United States government and a lot of governments around this world – we’re not exempt – are now in a government debt crisis where their interest costs on a yearly basis exceed the amount of taxes they take in.

[T]his is the motivation behind Trump and his team doing tariffs. They’re using it as a negotiation strategy to try to force other countries to make economic concessions and help the United States tackle their own debt problems.

If we remember that key point, then we can say, “All right, let’s be strong.”

Let’s be self-sufficient. We don’t have to get down and wrestle in the mud with them verbally. We just have to go. They have their own core motivations– let’s look after our own interests first and remember what’s motivating them.