federal election: liberals celebrate big gains in b.c. en route to forming government
the liberals dominated much of metro vancouver and turned over a couple of former ndp strongholds on the island. but the party failed to win any seats in more rural parts of the province
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liberal candidate and mp-elect gregor robertson celebrates with his supporters after winning a seat in the federal election for the riding of fraserview-south burnaby on monday night.
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the federal liberals’ path to victory in this week’s election was aided by wins in b.c., where the party recorded its best performance in the province in several decades.
many of those votes likely came from past supporters of the federal ndp, which sustained big losses in the province, falling from 13 to three seats and seeing its share of the vote plummet to less than half of what the party won in 2021. the liberals turned over some former ndp strongholds, including in the greater victoria and vancouver areas.
“b.c. was central to our national campaign — underscored by (liberal leader) mark carney choosing to end his campaign in victoria and that focus paid off thanks to the incredible dedication of our volunteers and local field team,” said nicole brassard, vice-chairwoman of the liberal party of canada (b.c.). brassard said the party was “so proud” to secure 20 seats in b.c., calling it “the best result in recent memory.”
on vancouver island, the liberals picked up two ridings long held by the ndp. victoria will have its first liberal mp in almost 20 years, after university of victoria political science professor will greaves defeated ndp candidate laurel collins.
collins, who was seeking her third term representing the riding, told the victoria news on election night that the threats to canada’s sovereignty and economy posed by u.s. president donald trump made people feel like “they’ve got to choose between heads and tails.”
liberal party of canada esquimalt-saanich-sooke mp elect stephanie mclean and victoria mpp elect will greaves at the scottish community hall at the scottish community hall in victoria on april 28.
darren stone
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times colonist
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many people wanted to vote ndp but felt afraid, collins told the news. “people on the doorstep told me: ‘it’s just this one time.’ ”
esquimalt-saanich-sooke had been held by the ndp since its creation a decade ago. but on monday, liberal stephanie mclean, a cabinet minister in former alberta ndp premier rachel notley’s government, won more votes than the ndp and conservative candidates combined.
while the liberals celebrated those wins in b.c.’s urban areas, they failed to pick up any seats in more rural regions. in that respect, monday’s results were “a tale of two b.c.s,” said political strategist michael gardiner, president of strategies 360 canada.
the liberals dominated much of metro vancouver — including big margins on the north shore — but ran into a blue wall east of surrey and in the rest of the province’s mainland.
the liberals did manage to win kelowna, where liberal stephen fuhr narrowly defeated incumbent conservative tracy gray, by a margin of 47.8 per cent to 47.3 per cent. kelowna has mostly been represented by conservative mps (and, before that, alliance and reform mps) for the last three decades, with the sole exception of 2015, when fuhr himself won as the liberals swept to power under then-new leader justin trudeau.
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but while kelowna is in b.c.’s interior, it has “become very urban” in recent years, gardiner pointed out.
kelowna liberal mp elect stephen fuhr thanks supporters on election night
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kelowna courier
the liberals’ “high degree of strength in urban areas” largely aligns with the areas the b.c. ndp won in last fall’s provincial election, gardiner said, while the federal and b.c. conservatives performed well in many of the same areas.
the liberals “don’t have a path to a majority without making inroads in rural b.c. and in suburban-slash-rural ontario,” said gardiner, who has worked on b.c. ndp campaigns dating to the 1990s. “so they are going to have to do the work to figure that out if they want a majority in the future.”
b.c. saw a voter turnout of 67.14 per cent, roughly the same as the national level.
the liberals won 20 seats in b.c., compared with the conservatives’ 19. the two parties nearly tied for percentage of the vote, with the grits at 41.6 per cent and the tories at 41.1 per cent. both totals represented big gains for the parties over 2021.
while many past ndp supporters voted for the liberals, a significant number may have gone to the conservatives as well. a national research co. poll conducted the day before the election found that of those who voted for the ndp in 2021, 37 per cent planned to vote for the liberals, while 17 per cent planned to support the conservatives.
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the federal liberals haven’t always had an easy time winning seats in b.c., in part because of a sense of regional alienation, said mike mcdonald, chief strategy officer at kirk & co. “this is definitely an election that stands out for them, no doubt.”
“but what this means for next time is anybody’s guess, because you have to expect the ndp are going to rebound to some extent,” said mcdonald, who has worked on several b.c. liberal campaigns. “so are the liberals going to fall back to levels that they’ve been at in the past? … it’s too early to say, but i wouldn’t expect this to be the new normal.”
five liberal mps to watch:
wade grant in vancouver quadra
wade grant won in vancouver quadra, the westside vancouver riding that includes the musqueam first nation, of which grant is a member and past elected councillor. grant has also served on the vancouver police board, chaired b.c.’s first nations health council, and advised former b.c. premier christy clark on indigenous issues. on monday, grant more than doubled the vote total of conservative ken charko.
liberal incumbent jonathan wilkinson, left, arrives at his election-watch party at the lonsdale quay hotel in the north vancouver-capilano riding
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jonathan wilkinson cruised to a fourth term, handily winning north vancouver-capilano. wilkinson has represented north vancouver in ottawa since 2015 and held a variety of cabinet positions over the years, including being named minister of energy and natural resources last month in carney’s new cabinet. going forward, wilkinson is likely to be one of the more prominent b.c. representatives in the new liberal government, and could once again serve as a cabinet minister.
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liberal candidate and mp-elect celebrates with his supporters after winning a seat in the federal election for the riding of fraserview-south burnaby on election night
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gregor robertson served as mayor of vancouver from 2008 until 2018, the longest consecutive mayoralty in the city’s history. before that, he was a b.c. ndp mla for vancouver-fraserview and co-founded organic food and beverage company happy planet. during the campaign, robertson found himself targeted by the conservatives, who derided carney’s “star candidate” for running the city while housing costs soared. robertson comfortably won vancouver fraserview-south burnaby for the liberals on monday, finishing 16 percentage points ahead of conservative avi nayyar.
hedy fry in a handout photo
liberal party of canada
hedy fry, already canada’s longest serving female mp, extended her record by earning her 11th term representing vancouver centre. fry first won the riding in 1993, when she defeated then-progressive conservative leader and incumbent prime minister kim campbell. since then, fry, a former doctor, has defeated serious challengers from both the right and the left. this year, the 83-year-old fry won 55 per cent of the votes cast in vancouver centre, the second-highest percentage of her 11 past electoral wins, finishing well ahead of the runner-up, conservative elaine allan, and high-profile ndp candidate avi lewis, who finished third. fry’s son is pete fry, a vancouver city councillor representing the green party.
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jake sawatzky canvassing in burnaby during the election campaign
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jake sawatzky won new westminster-burnaby-maillardville for the liberals. the candidate, still in his 20s, was working on his undergraduate degree at the university of b.c. just last year. on monday, he defeated peter julian, who has represented burnaby and new west for the federal ndp for more than 20 consecutive years.
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