BC NDP candidate for MLA in Kootenay-Rockies, and a Cranbrook city councillor since 2014.
Norma Blissett is the BC NDP candidate in Kootenay-Rockies. She was first elected to Cranbrook city council in 2014 and re-elected in 2018 and 2022, according to local reporting, and her council term ends in November 2026. She ran for the NDP in Kootenay East in 2013 and won 37.01 percent of the vote. In 2026 she has said she will focus on health care close to home, jobs and businesses, and building homes.
A researched record of what Norma Blissett has said as the 2026 BC NDP candidate in Kootenay-Rockies, with her record on Cranbrook city council and her 2013 run for the legislature.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Norma Blissett
Elections BC lists Norma Blissett as the BC NDP candidate in Kootenay-Rockies. The Free Press reported on September 29, 2026 that the party had announced her as its candidate.
She has sat on Cranbrook city council since the 2014 election. e-KNOW reported her election that year with 2,194 votes, and the Cranbrook Daily Townsman reported her re-election in 2022 with 3,147 votes. The Free Press says she was re-elected twice. The City of Cranbrook profile lists her as a director on the Regional District of East Kootenay board and the Kootenay East Regional Hospital District board, and council named her alternate on the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Treaty Advisory Committee for 2026. e-KNOW calls her an outgoing councillor.
She ran for the NDP in Kootenay East in the 2013 provincial election. The Elections BC statement of votes shows she won 6,023 votes (37.01 percent), and the sitting member, Bill Bennett of the BC Liberals, won 10,252 (62.99 percent). In July 2016 e-KNOW reported she was seeking the party nomination in Kootenay East for 2017. voche.me did not find the result of that nomination race.
Her City profile lists degrees in forestry from the University of Toronto, education from Laurentian University, and leadership and administration from Gonzaga University. The same profile says she taught forestry, math and science at Mount Baker Senior Secondary School and worked as a forester. These details come from the City's councillor profile, and voche.me has not checked them with the schools or employers.
She did not run in Kootenay-Rockies in 2024. In that election Pete Davis of the Conservative Party won the district with 8,217 votes (42.71 percent), and the NDP candidate, Sam Atwal, won 4,184 (21.75 percent).
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
6 commitments shown · Checked Sep 30
2026 · Public servicesCampaign pledge
Keep investing in health care in the region
Said in a BC NDP release that people in Cranbrook and the Kootenays deserve quality health care close to home, and that she is proud to stand with the party to keep investing in health care.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The Free Press quotes this from a party release. It names no measure, number of doctors or beds, cost or date.
What still needs checking
Which health services would she ask the Province to add in Kootenay-Rockies, and when?
Said on social media that her campaign will focus on supporting workers and businesses.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
e-KNOW quotes her post. The same words appear in the party leader's statement in the Free Press report, so this is the party's line repeated by her. It names no measure, number, cost or date.
What still needs checking
What would she do for jobs in forestry and mining in the district?
Said on social media that her campaign will focus on building the homes and public works that communities need.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
e-KNOW quotes her post, in the same sentence as the jobs commitment. The words match the party leader's statement. It gives no number of homes, cost or date.
What still needs checking
How many homes, and which kinds, does she want built in the district?
Better emergency and primary care in the Elk Valley (2013)
As the 2013 NDP candidate in Kootenay East, said she would work with the health authority and the regional hospital district to improve primary care, emergency and ambulance services in the Elk Valley and Cranbrook.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
This is from her 2013 campaign. Her 2026 statement on health care does not repeat these details.
What still needs checking
Does she carry this into 2026, with a measure and a date?
Her council record comes from the City of Cranbrook and local reporting. The one dated action is a city motion and earns no score on the provincial issues.
Reported by the City of Cranbrook
Motion asking the regional district to lower dump fees for the Knight's Hall cleanup
The City says Councillor Blissett and Mayor Wayne Price made a motion to the Regional District of East Kootenay to lower dump fees for the cleanup of the former Knight's Hall property. The City says the regional district then cut the fee for mixed building waste from $200 to $100 per ton.
Scope, limits and sources
The date is the date of the City release; it does not give the date of the motion. This is a city and regional district action with no provincial lever, so it earns no score on the provincial issues.
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Statement
Party release on her candidacy
In a BC NDP release quoted by The Free Press, she said people in the Kootenays deserve health care close to home and warned that Conservative spending cuts would put care at risk.
In a post quoted by e-KNOW, she said her work on Cranbrook council showed her that a good relationship with the provincial government makes a difference, and named jobs, homes and public works as her campaign focus.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
News coverage / Original publishers
Read the reporting
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
The Free Press · Trevor Crawley
Blissett running for BC NDP in Kootenay-Rockies
Reports the party's announcement of her candidacy, her council and teaching background, and her 2013 run.
Sources checked September 30, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
No campaign website was found: normablissett.bcndp.ca sends the reader back to the same address in a loop and shows no page. The BC NDP team page loads candidate names with a script, so a direct read shows no page for her, and the party release that The Free Press quotes was not found on the party's releases page. e-KNOW says she announced her run on social media, but voche.me did not identify her account, so no post is used beyond what e-KNOW quotes. The result of the 2016 NDP nomination race in Kootenay East was not found. Her 2018 council result was not read, because the CivicInfo BC results page returned HTTP 403. Cranbrook council minutes, Regional District of East Kootenay board minutes and Kootenay East Regional Hospital District records were not searched for her motions or votes. Her degrees and past jobs come from her City councillor profile and were not checked with the schools or employers. No all-candidates meeting for Kootenay-Rockies, campaign finances or endorsements were found on this date.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on 2026-09-30: the Elections BC candidate list and election dates, the 2013 and 2024 statements of votes, the BC NDP team, releases and platform pages, her City of Cranbrook councillor profile and a City release, and reporting from The Free Press, e-KNOW and the Cranbrook Daily Townsman.
No campaign website or party candidate page could be read, and her social media account was not identified. Her 2026 commitments come from her words as quoted in two news reports. An empty section records what voche.me did not find on this date.
03 / Background
Experience & community
2014 to 2026
Councillor, City of Cranbrook
Elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2018 and 2022, according to local reporting. Her term ends at the first council meeting in November 2026.
Her City profile says she worked as a forester for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and as a forestry education consultant for East Kootenay forest companies.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
What would you do as MLA to bring more doctors, nurses and emergency care to Cranbrook and the Elk Valley, and by when?
No response has been submitted.
How many homes would you want the Province to help build in Kootenay-Rockies in the next four years?
No response has been submitted.
What is your position on mining in the Elk Valley and the protection of the Elk River?
No response has been submitted.
Have your own question?
Ask Norma Blissett directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
05 / About this page
Questions about this page
Facts voche.me can state about Norma Blissett's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Norma Blissett?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Norma Blissett's own campaign.
What party is Norma Blissett running with?
Norma Blissett is running for MLA with BC NDP.
Does Norma Blissett currently hold public office?
Yes. Norma Blissett currently serves as Councillor, City of Cranbrook.
How many sources does this Norma Blissett profile cite?
This profile lists 6 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Why do some questions on Norma Blissett's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Norma Blissett in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
When is the election Norma Blissett is running in?
The 2026 British Columbia election, including the MLA race, is decided on October 24, 2026.
06 / Candidate contributions
Space for campaign updates
No campaign updates yet
Announcements, event details and messages can be added here, with their source and publication date. No campaign submission has been added.
