# British Columbia Southern Interior

British Columbia Southern Interior (formerly known as Southern Interior, Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan and West Kootenay—Okanagan) was a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that had been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015.

## Description

Regions included in the riding are the Similkameen, the southern half of the South Okanagan region, the Boundary Country, all of the West Kootenay region, the Slocan Valley, Lower (but not Upper) Arrow Lake, and including the east shore of Kootenay Lake from opposite Kaslo northwards.
Municipalities within the riding are Princeton, Keremeos, Oliver, Osoyoos, Greenwood, Grand Forks, Trail, Rossland, Warfield, Montrose, Fruitvale, Castlegar, Nelson, Salmo, Slocan, New Denver, Silverton, and Kaslo.

## History

This riding was created in 1996 as "West Kootenay—Okanagan" from parts of Kootenay West—Revelstoke and Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt ridings.
It consisted of:
* Kootenay Boundary Regional District;
* subdivisions A and B of Central Kootenay Regional District; and
* the eastern part of Subdivision B of Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District.
It was renamed "Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan" in 1998.
In the 2003 redistribution, the riding was replaced by the new riding of Southern Interior, with a small part being redistributed into Kootenay—Columbia and a small part added from Okanagan—Coquihalla.
In 2004, its name was changed to "British Columbia Southern Interior".

### Members of Parliament

| Parliament | Years | Member | Party |
| West Kootenay—Okanagan Riding created from Kootenay West—Revelstoke and Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt |||||
| 36th | 1997–2000 | Jim Gouk | Reform |
| 36th | 2000–2000 | Jim Gouk | Alliance |
| Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan |||||
| 37th | 2000–2003 | Jim Gouk | Alliance |
| 37th | 2003–2004 | Jim Gouk | Conservative |
| Southern Interior |||||
| 38th | 2004–2006 | Jim Gouk | Conservative |
| British Columbia Southern Interior |||||
| 39th | 2006–2008 | Alex Atamanenko | New Democratic |
| 40th | 2008–2011 | Alex Atamanenko | New Democratic |
| 41st | 2011–2015 | Alex Atamanenko | New Democratic |
| Riding dissolved into South Okanagan—West Kootenay, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola and Kootenay—Columbia |||||

## Election results
### British Columbia Southern Interior

2011 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Alex Atamanenko | 25,176 | 50.9 | +3.4 |
| | Conservative | Stephen Hill | 19,276 | 38.9 | +3.1 |
| | Green | Bryan Hunt | 3,173 | 6.4 | -3.2 |
| | Liberal | Shannon (Shan) Lavell | 1,872 | 3.8 | -3.1 |
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 49,674 | 100.0 |
2008 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Alex Atamanenko | 22,693 | 47.5 | -1.5 | $66,606 |
| | Conservative | Rob Zandee | 17,122 | 35.9 | +16.6 | $76,704 |
| | Green | Andy Morel | 4,573 | 9.6 | -1.7 | $8,439 |
| | Liberal | Brenda Jagpal | 3,292 | 6.9 | -13.3 | $28,430 |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Brian Sproule | 80 | 0.2 | -0.1 | -- |
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 47,915 | 100.0 | $92,328 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 155 | 0.3 | -0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,915 | 63.89 |
2006 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Alex Atamanenko | 22,742 | 49.0 | +13.9 | $72,595 |
| | Liberal | Bill Profili | 9,383 | 20.2 | +2.2 | $40,534 |
| | Conservative | Derek Zeisman | 8,948 | 19.3 | -17.3 | $53,470 |
| | Green | Scott Leyland | 5,258 | 11.3 | +3.4 | $14,334 |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Brian Sproule | 123 | 0.3 | +0.2 | $0 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 46454 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 236 | 0.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,690 | 66.4 |
| | NDP gain from Conservative | NDP gain from Conservative | Swing | +15.6 | |

### Southern Interior

2004 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Jim Gouk | 16,940 | 36.6 | * | $55,553 |
| | New Democratic | Alex Atamanenko | 16,260 | 35.1 | +25.3 | $22,019 |
| | Liberal | Doug Stanley | 8,310 | 18.0 | -9.4 | $74,051 |
| | Green | Scott Leyland | 3,663 | 7.9 | +1.4 | $16,098 |
| | Independent | Robert Schuster | 591 | 1.3 | * | $9,264 |
| | Marijuana | Karine Cyr | 391 | 0.8 | * | |
| | Canadian Action | Farlie Paynter | 87 | 0.2 | * | $454 |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Brian Sproule | 39 | 0.1 | * | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 46,281 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 163 | 0.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,444 | 60.0 |

### Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan

2000 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Alliance | Jim Gouk | 19,386 | 46.69 | -0.09 | $42,724 |
| | Liberal | Bill Barlee | 11,357 | 27.35 | +9.88 | $32,709 |
| | New Democratic | Don Scarlett | 4,091 | 9.85 | -12.04 | $7,473 |
| | Green | Andrew Shadrack | 2,689 | 6.47 | +0.42 | $14,652 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Michele Elise Duncan | 2,147 | 5.17 | -0.39 | $3,532 |
| | Marijuana | Dan Loehndorf | 889 | 2.14 | – | $978 |
| | Canadian Action | Bev Collins | 762 | 1.84 | +0.91 | $3,220 |
| | Natural Law | Annie Holtby | 191 | 0.46 | ±0 | $886 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 41,512 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 238 | 0.57 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,750 | 64.86 |
| | Alliance hold | Alliance hold | Swing | Swing | -4.98 |
| Change for the Canadian Alliance is based on the Reform Party. |||||||

### West Kootenay—Okanagan

1997 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures |
| | Reform | Jim Gouk | 18,954 | 46.78 | $45,047 |
| | New Democratic | Kirk Duff | 8,869 | 21.89 | $40,603 |
| | Liberal | John A. Greaves | 7,078 | 17.47 | $17,158 |
| | Green | Andy Shadrack | 2,455 | 6.05 | $6,527 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Blair Suffredine | 2,255 | 5.56 | $23,236 |
| | Canadian Action | Beverly Bev Collins | 377 | 0.93 | $2,816 |
| | Christian Heritage | Brian J. Zacharias | 340 | 0.83 | $1,372 |
| | Natural Law | Ruth Anne Taves | 187 | 0.46 | $498 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 40,515 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 185 | 0.45 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,700 | 66.68 |
| This riding was created from parts of Kootenay West—Revelstoke and Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt, both of which elected a Reform candidate in the previous election. Reform candidate Jim Gouk was the incumbent from Kootenay West—Revelstoke. |||||||