MLA in Bulkley Valley-Stikine · BC provincial 2026
Sharon Hartwell
Conservative MLA for Bulkley Valley-Stikine and former mayor of Telkwa, running again.
Sharon Hartwell won Bulkley Valley-Stikine for the Conservatives in 2024 with 52.31% of the vote, ahead of the sitting BC NDP member Nathan Cullen. In the legislature in 2026 she spoke most about roads and other public works in the North, health care in the North, the budget, forestry and freedom of information.
A researched record of Sharon Hartwell's 17 commitments, 13 dated actions and 14 public statements, with 7 news items. Most come from what she said in the legislature in 2026.
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 Sharon Hartwell
Sharon Hartwell is the Conservative Party of BC candidate in Bulkley Valley-Stikine on Elections BC's list stamped October 1, 2026 08:00:07 PM. On that copy she is the only accepted candidate in the district. Nominations close at 1 p.m. on October 3, 2026.
She won the district in 2024 under the ballot name Sharon L. Hartwell, with 4,992 votes, 52.31% of the valid vote. The sitting member, Nathan Cullen of the BC NDP, had 3,709 votes, according to the Elections BC statement of votes.
The legislature's member record lists her as a Conservative member for Bulkley Valley-Stikine in the 43rd Parliament, first elected in 2024. A caucus release of October 1, 2025 named her critic for rural infrastructure and rural development. A caucus release of June 29, 2026 named her the caucus representative to the party board. These are caucus roles in opposition.
The Village of Telkwa's page of past councils lists her as a councillor in 1993 to 1995 and as mayor in each council from 1995 to 2009. The party page says she was a business owner and a director of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. voche.me has not checked those two claims with another source.
In the legislature in 2026 she spoke against the budget, Bill 9 on freedom of information, Bill 11 on supportive housing and Bill 14 on forests. She moved a motion on clean drinking water and asked questions on travel help for patients, psychiatric care in the North, Highway 37 and money for public works in rural areas.
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.
17 commitments shown · Checked Oct 1
2026 · Public servicesCampaign pledge
A recovery and detox centre for Glen Vowell
In a caucus release of June 25, 2026, reported by The Interior News, Hartwell asked the Province to provide a recovery and detox centre for Glen Vowell (Sik-E-Dakh), to serve Hazelton and nearby communities too.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She gives no cost, number of beds or date.
What still needs checking
Does a ministry announce a detox centre for the Hazelton area?
In question period on April 23, 2026, Hartwell asked the Health Minister to reverse cuts to the travel assistance program, which helps northern families travel to medical care far from home.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She gives no cost and no date. She calls the cuts secret; the minister's answer is in the transcript.
What still needs checking
Does the travel assistance program change before or after the election?
In question period on May 5, 2026, Hartwell said there is no psychiatrist in Houston or Smithers and asked how people can stay in recovery without psychiatric care.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
This is a question. She names no measure, number or date.
What still needs checking
Does Northern Health add psychiatric care in the Bulkley Valley?
The Interior News reported on June 3, 2026 that Hartwell said there should be a timeline to replace Bulkley Valley District Hospital in Smithers, a building over 70 years old.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She gives no cost and no year.
What still needs checking
Does a capital plan name a replacement for the Smithers hospital?
In her budget speech on February 25, 2026, Hartwell said Highway 37 needs upgrades for safety and for economic growth. In the Finance estimates on May 21, 2026, she said widening, shoulders, ditches and brushing were promised a year earlier, and she found none of it in the budget.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She gives no cost and no date of her own.
What still needs checking
Does a transportation budget name Highway 37 work?
A new bridge in Telkwa and other public works in the riding
In the same budget speech, Hartwell listed works she says the Province should fund: the aging bridge over the Bulkley River in Telkwa, more room at Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, an ambulance station and fire hall in Atlin, and help for Kitwanga.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She gives no cost or date for any of them. She says the overrun on one large project elsewhere would have paid for them.
In the Finance estimates on May 21, 2026, Hartwell asked why roads that serve as evacuation routes near Hazelton, Babine and Telkwa are not maintained, and said district office budgets may need to change.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She gives no cost, number of roads or date.
What still needs checking
Does the transportation ministry fund work on these roads?
Affordable, clean drinking water for every community
On March 9, 2026, Hartwell moved Motion M201, which asks the legislature to affirm its commitment to affordable, equitable and accessible clean water. On March 30 she asked members to vote for it and asked the government to invest in water systems.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The motion states a position and names no spending, number or date. voche.me found no vote on it in the 2026 vote index.
Oppose the changes to freedom of information law in Bill 9
In the Bill 9 debate on May 4, 2026, Hartwell asked the government to withdraw the provisions that limit access, remove the new fees, narrow the grounds for refusing requests and restore firmer timelines.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She names changes to the bill. She gives no number or date. The vote index records her voting Nay at third reading.
In the Bill 14 debate on April 15, 2026, Hartwell spoke against the new contract logging model, wider spending from the B.C. Timber Sales account and extra licence conditions, and said she could not support the bill.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She proposes no change with a number or date. The transcript of April 21, 2026 records third reading as approved unanimously on a division, and the vote index records her vote as Yea.
End the freeze on new mineral claims in the northwest
In a caucus release of June 4, 2026, Hartwell said placer miners had waited 12 months for the freeze on new mineral claims to be lifted, and that each month of it puts jobs on hold.
In a private members' statement on April 20, 2026, told as a Christmas story, Hartwell said she would ask for the final permit for the Tenas coal project near Telkwa to be signed, because it would bring jobs.
In her budget speech on February 25, 2026, Hartwell objected to more than $1 billion in new taxes in the budget, including the sales tax on more services, and said rural families already pay more for fuel and food.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The $1 billion figure describes the budget. She proposes no tax change with a number or date of her own.
What still needs checking
Does a later budget change the sales tax on services?
In the Bill 11 debate on April 2, 2026, Hartwell said the bill lacks a clear definition of supportive housing, rules for safety and staffing, and consultation with fire services, and asked the government to consult more before going ahead.
In a caucus release of November 10, 2025, reported by My Bulkley Lakes Now, Hartwell asked the Housing Minister and BC Housing to stop work on a $700,000 shelter in Smithers and review how it was approved.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The $700,000 figure describes the project. She gives no date for the review.
In the same Christmas story on April 20, 2026, Hartwell listed what she wants for the North, including safe streets and businesses that do not need security.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
This is a wish list. It names no measure, number or date.
The party platform page says the platform is coming soon and lists plan titles such as Get BC Building, Get BC Moving and Forestry for the Future. The page does not name Hartwell.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text with no measures on the page read on this date.
What still needs checking
Does the party publish the full platform before October 24?
Recorded votes where the legislature's vote index names her, and a motion she moved. A vote records how she voted. Her reasons, where she gave them, are in her speeches.
Debated; voche.me found no vote
Moved Motion M201 on affordable, clean water
Hartwell moved the motion in the legislature and spoke for it again on March 30, 2026.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcripts record her moving and debating the motion. voche.me found no recorded vote on it in the 2026 vote index.
Voted for the Forests Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 14)
The vote index records Hartwell voting Yea at third reading.
Scope, limits and sources
On April 15, 2026, in the second reading debate on this bill, she said she could not support it. At third reading on April 21 the transcript records the bill as approved unanimously on a division, and the vote index lists her vote as Yea. voche.me found no statement from her that explains the difference.
Hartwell spoke against the 2026 budget: the deficit, new taxes, the Canfor mill closure in Houston, forestry, health care in the North, seniors and public works in her riding.
Hartwell moved the motion and spoke about boil-water notices and the cost of water treatment for small communities such as Telkwa. She spoke for it again on March 30.
Questions in the Finance estimates on rural infrastructure
Hartwell asked about Highway 37, northern highway resurfacing, delayed projects, evacuation roads, water systems, internet service and the budget of the regional transportation office.
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 Narwhal · Matt Simmons
Why Nathan Cullen lost Bulkley Valley-Stikine
Reports on her 2024 win over Nathan Cullen. The Narwhal reports that during the campaign she posted on social media in support of a petition for Canada to leave the United Nations and said the 2020 United States election was rigged, and that at a debate in Smithers she made a statement on drug use in pregnancy and autism that The Narwhal calls false. It says she did not answer its request for an interview.
Reports a budget town hall she hosted on March 17, 2026 with Peter Milobar and Gavin Dew. She said the budget held no new money for Highway 37 and asked about the timeline for the long-term care project in Smithers.
Reports that on a public online call on September 1, 2026 she said it was false that the party leader was under police investigation, citing the caucus whip. A caucus statement in her name then said she had misunderstood and mischaracterized what the whip told members, and apologized.
Sources checked October 1, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
Frequency · Pamela Haasen, CICK · September 17, 2026
No campaign website was found. sharonhartwell.ca and sharonhartwell.com show parked pages with no content. Her X account could not be read without signing in, so no post is used; the Glen Vowell statement is taken from the caucus release and The Interior News. The party's candidate page labels her "Interim Conservative Party Leader"; caucus releases name others as interim leader, so voche.me does not repeat that label. Her caucus is taken from the legislature's 43rd Parliament member entry. Her years as a business owner, her role as a director of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, her work with the Union of BC Municipalities and her time as chair of the North West Regional Hospital District come from the party, caucus and legislature member pages, which she or her party supplied; voche.me has not checked them with those bodies. The party page says she was mayor for 12 years; the Village of Telkwa page is the source used here. The social media posts and debate statement that The Narwhal reported in 2024 were not read by voche.me. A Prince George Citizen article was read through an Internet Archive copy because the site refused direct requests. A caucus release about an auditor general for local government did not load. Votes are taken from the 2026 vote index; only the transcript of the Bill 14 vote was opened. Her 2025 speeches were not read. No all-candidates meeting in Bulkley Valley-Stikine was found on this date. No commitment on education was found. Campaign finances and endorsements were not reviewed. The questionnaire has not been sent.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on 2026-10-01: the Elections BC candidate list and 2024 statement of votes, the legislature's member record, its 2026 speech and vote indexes and 14 transcripts from 2026, the Village of Telkwa's list of past councils, the party candidate and platform pages, the caucus page and five caucus releases, and news reports from 2024 to 2026.
Her commitments on this page come mostly from what she said in the legislature in 2026 and from caucus releases that quote her. No campaign website of her own was found. Sections with no entry record that voche.me found nothing on this date.
Critic for Rural Infrastructure and Rural Development
Named in the opposition team announced by the caucus on October 1, 2025. The caucus page now calls the role Shadow Minister for Rural Infrastructure and Development. It is a caucus role in opposition.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
No questions and answers have been supplied.
Have your own question?
Ask Sharon Hartwell 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 Sharon Hartwell's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Sharon Hartwell?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Sharon Hartwell's own campaign.
What party is Sharon Hartwell running with?
Sharon Hartwell is running for MLA with Conservative Party of BC.
Does Sharon Hartwell currently hold public office?
Yes. Sharon Hartwell currently serves as MLA for Bulkley Valley-Stikine.
How many sources does this Sharon Hartwell 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 Sharon Hartwell's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Sharon Hartwell 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 Sharon Hartwell 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.
