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NANAIMO, BC – The minority NDP government of British Columbia is facing a crucial popularity test this month in a by-election in one of its traditionally safe ridings, where the outcome could threaten power of Prime Minister John Horgan.
Voters in Nanaimo, who elected the New Democrats in 13 of the last 15 provincial elections, go to the polls on January 30 to replace Leonard Krog, a five-member NDP MP who resigned from his seat in New Brunswick. last year after being elected mayor. from the city of Vancouver Island.
Krog's vacancy in the legislature further diminishes the NDP's narrow seat, which formed the government in 2017 by entering into a partnership agreement with the three Green Party members.
Six candidates are in the running: former NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson, Green Party Michele Ney, Liberal Tony Harris, Conservative Justin Greenwood, Vancouver Island Party and Libertarian Bill Walker.
There are 40 New Democrats, three Greens, 42 Liberals, one Independent and one vacant in the 87-seat legislature.
If the Liberals win, the legislature will have a 43-43 tie, with President Darryl Plecas – a former Liberal who now sits as an independent – forced to vote in a tie.
An NDP victory would preserve the status of minority government.
Professor Mark Blackell, who teaches liberal studies at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, said the city was famous for being an NDP stronghold, but Ney's liberal, liberal, Harris and Green names will challenge Malcolmson and the NDP .
"Nanaimo has undergone gradual changes in recent decades due to a changing, more service-oriented economy, and the fact that people often settle here for retirement and more recently , for the youngest in the Lower Mainland. reasonable housing, "he said.
"While many of those who have settled, particularly in Alberta, are bringing in more Conservatives or Liberal Party Bargains, there has also been an increase in support from the Greens, mostly from the younger population."
Harris, the Liberal candidate, said that each candidate was aware of the high stakes of the by-election, but that it was also an opportunity for the often overlooked city to attract attention well. deserved.
Nanaimo, located on the east coast of Vancouver Island, about 110 kilometers northeast of Victoria, is a port city with mineral and forest roots. More than 90,000 people live in the city.
Harris said Nanaimo had been banned from the political scene for too long.
"We certainly need a more comprehensive vision to allow any ruling party to determine how to promote Nanaimo's interests," he said.
He acknowledged that the former Liberal government was not paying enough attention to the riding, but added that the NDP was not paying sufficient attention to Nanaimo, thus preventing Krog from being a member of Horgan's cabinet.
"It's kind of a metaphor for the attitude towards Nanaimo," he said. "We can be neglected. We can be taken for granted and we will simply continue to move forward. "
But Harris, a sixth-generation resident, said he embodied the resilient spirit of the city and wanted to make bold changes in Nanaimo.
Green candidate Michele Ney said her roots in Nanaimo were as deep as Harris's, and her vision also focused on the city's potential.
She is one of the eleven children of Nanaimo Mayor Frank Ney.
Frank Ney has been Mayor of Nanaimo for 21 years. He was also elected to the BC legislature for a term.
A bronze statue of Frank Ney stands in downtown Nanaimo and this flamboyant businessman is known to attract thousands of tourists to the city with his famous bathtub races.
"The apples do not fall far from the tree," said Michele Ney. "I have a vision for Nanaimo. I have this vision that we will become a leader in a clean economy. "
Ney said she could not escape her father's legacy and spent much of her time ringing the door during the campaign to remember her father.
"He always talked to people, no matter who they were," she said. "If there was such a thing as Green during his lifetime or if he was still alive today, he would vote Green."
Malcolmson of the NDP said his team was very much aware of the issues for the government, but it focused on the riding.
"It's by talking to people on the doorstep that I get my best advice and my best reading on the actions of John Horgan's government so far," she said. "It's the real deal you hear on the steps of the door."
Malcolmson, who resigned from her federal seat as a member of Parliament for Nanaimo, said she was hearing from people concerned about health care, child care and education.
"On the doorstep, I would say that it is also the sense of urgency of how the Liberals have left housing prices disproportionate. How they let the homelessness crisis worsen in Nanaimo, "said Malcolmson, a resident of nearby Gabriola Island.
Richardson, an economist and former Conservative MP for Ontario when Joe Clark was Prime Minister, said he wanted Vancouver Island to become Canada's eleventh largest province.
"Our province would be 100 times better off than our region," said the candidate candidate for the Vancouver Island Party.
He also said that if he won the by-election, he would hold the balance of power in the legislature.
Walker, the libertarian, said he was campaigning for individual rights and freedoms and for "the release of government oppression".
The Conservative candidate could not be reached for comment.
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