Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
politician and former
provincial park
Ischigualasto Provincial Park
A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to t ...
Regional Manager. He served as the Member of Parliament for Kootenay—Columbia in the
42nd Canadian Parliament
The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octobe ...
. He was elected to that position in the
2015 Canadian federal election
The 2015 Canadian federal election held on October 19, 2015, saw the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, win 184 seats, allowing it to form a majority government with Trudeau becoming the next prime minister.
The election was held to elect ...
as a member of the
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
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. During that parliament he sponsored two private member bills: one to make the Friday before
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
be known as "National Local Food Day" and another to add various lakes and rivers to ''Navigable Waters Protection Act''. Stetski acted as the NDP Critic for National Parks for the duration of the
42nd Canadian Parliament
The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octobe ...
. He was defeated in the
2019 Canadian federal election
The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', ...
.
Prior to being elected to parliament, Stetski sought election as mayor of
Cranbrook, British Columbia
Cranbrook ( ) is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River. It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2016, Cra ...
in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
, and
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
. Though lost the 2008 election, he won in 2011 and served three years as mayor. He lost his re-election bid, as other Cranbrook incumbents in 2014 Prior to being mayor, Stetski worked 35 years with national and provincial parks and protected areas, including as the Kootenay Regional Manager for the BC Ministry of Environment.
Career
Stetski had a 35 year career working with national and provincial parks and protected areas. His career began as a naturalist for
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a national park located in British Columbia, Canada, which comprises three separate regions: Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast Trail. Its the Pacific Coast Mountains, are characterized ...
as a summer job while attending the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Manitoba Parks before moving to British Columbia where he worked as a
BC Parks
BC Parks is an agency of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy that manages all of the, as of 2020, 1,035 provincial parks and other conservation and historical properties of various title designations within t ...
manager for visitor services. He transitioned to the Manager for East Kootenay parks in 1980, and later became the regional manager of the Kootenay parks. Stetski had lived in Cranbrook since 1990 and been an active member in the community, raising three children and volunteering with the a local church and theatre, coaching hockey and baseball. Stetski changed jobs in 2009 to become the manager of the non-profit group East Kootenay Conservation.
Politics
With the mayor of Cranbrook retiring, the 56 year old Stetski stood for election to replace him in the 2008 local government election. With 46% of the vote, he lost to Cranbrook councillor Scott Manjak. Stetski became a board member with the local United Way and the vice-president of the Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook Society during its opposition to urban expansion on the land across the Cranbrook Community Forest. In 2011, with Manjak opting not to seek re-election, Stetski again ran for mayor. This time, he won the election with 45% of the vote. As mayor, he was also appointed to the board of the
Regional District of East Kootenay
The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. In the 2016 census, the population was 60,439. Its area is . The regional district offices are in Cranbrook, the larges ...
and the Columbia River Treaty Government's Committee. He stood for re-election in 2014 but lost, along with all other Cranbrook incumbents, with 38% of the vote.
The 62 year old Stetski quickly rebounded by being acclaimed, in March 2015, the NDP nominee for the Kootenay—Columbia riding in the upcoming October 2015 federal election. Though incumbent the Member of Parliament, David Wilks of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, was seeking re-election, polling found the riding too close to call with both Wilks and Stetski polling at 37% among decided voters. Stetski did go on to win the election with 37% of the vote but his NDP was reduced to third party status to a Liberal Party majority. During the
42nd Canadian Parliament
The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octobe ...
Stetski was the NDP critic for National Parks issues and sponsored two private member bills. On June 1, 2016, he introduced Bill C-281, titled the National Local Food Day Act, which sought to make the Friday before Thanksgiving Day is to be known as "National Local Food Day". The bill was passed by the House of Commons on November 8, 2018, but was blocked by the Conservative Party in the Senate. His second private member bill, Bill C-385, sought to re-insert numerous lakes and rivers such as Trout Lake, Duncan Lake, Windermere Lake, Columbia Lake,
Kicking Horse River
The Kicking Horse River is in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The river was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, reported being kicked by his packhorse while exploring the river. He ...
Salmo River
The Salmo River is a tributary of the Pend d'Oreille River in the West Kootenay region of the Regional District of Central Kootenay in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The river is 60 km long and its source is 12 km south of N ...
back into the Navigable Waters Protection Act. However, Bill C-385 did not advance past first reading as the government bill C-69 was amending the same act to re-define what water bodies and watercourses are deemed to be reviewable as navigable waters.
Stetski was seeking re-election as the Kootenay—Columbia member of parliament in the October 2019 federal election. He was defeated by retired law enforcement administrator Rob Morrison of the Conservative Party, and was contested by retired forester Rick Stewart for the People's Party, advocate Trev Miller for the Animal Protection Party and Nelson residents Abra Brynne for the Green Party and Terry Tiessen for the Libertarian Party. Stetski's last day in office was October 21, 2019.