Election 2019: How the Liberals fared in B.C. — the winners and losers
Credit to Author: Lori Culbert| Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2019 05:53:30 +0000
The federal Liberals lost some ground in B.C. this election, just as they did throughout much of Canada, and no longer hold a majority of seats in this province.
“It looks like the Liberals have held onto the better part of Metro Vancouver. They have lost a few seats here and there (in the suburbs),” Stewart Prest, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University, said Monday night, adding the party’s messages on the environment and housing still seem to have resonated with many B.C. voters.
“They are clearly somewhat chastened by the result. They are weakened. But considering where they were a week ago (in the polls) … there is a surprising resilience there.”
In 2015, the federal Liberals won 17 of B.C.’s 42 seats, a massive gain over just two seats in 2011, but faced challenges during this campaign because of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline purchase and the Jody Wilson-Raybould affair.
As of late Monday night, the Liberals had won or were leading in 11 ridings, behind the Conservatives at 17 and tied with the NDP. The Liberals could not hold onto many of the suburban ridings they snatched away from the Conservatives in 2015.
“These outer suburbs, they were the ones the Conservatives were targeting in the entire campaign,” said Hamish Telford, a political scientist at the University of the Fraser Valley, adding that the seven seats the Liberals lost in B.C. played a “proportional” role in the party slipping from a majority to a minority government.
“Western Canada was part of the story, and certainly British Columbia played it’s part.”
North Vancouver was one of the heated battles between the two leading parties. Liberal Jonathan Wilkinson stole the seat from former two-term Conservative MP Andrew Saxton in 2015 by a hefty margin and won the riding again this election.
North Vancouver Liberal incumbent Jonathan Wilkinson. (Photo by Jason Payne/ PNG)
Wilkinson, who sat in the Liberal cabinet as fisheries minister and was a top Liberal MP in B.C., said undecided voters must have moved to the Liberals in the final days of the campaign.
“Tonight is indeed a very happy night,” a smiling Wilkinson said. “The trend across the country is clearly (that voters) wanted … another government that cares about economic stability and the environment.”
Although it is early days, he said there has been a history of stable minority governments in Canada and predicted the Liberals can work collaboratively with the NDP and Green MPs in Ottawa.
Some of Wilkinson’s local colleagues will not be returning to Ottawa with him. B.C. Liberals who appear to have lost their seats to Conservative challengers include: Jati Sidhu in Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon, Stephen Fuhr in Kelowna-Lake Country, Dan Ruimy in Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge, and Joe Peschisolido in Steveston-Richmond East.
Also defeated was former provincial and municipal politician Gordie Hogg in South Surrey-White Rock, who won the riding for the Liberals in a byelection but could not stop the Conservatives from taking it back Monday night.
Justin Trudeau and South Surrey-White Rock Liberal candidate Gordie Hogg in 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The Liberals had hoped candidate Taleeb Noormohamed could snatch Vancouver-Granville away from Wilson-Raybould, where she ran as an independent after parting ways with the Liberals over the SNC-Lavalin affair. But Wilson-Raybould emerged victorious, and Telford noted it was the SNC-Lavalin story that was the start of the Liberals slipping nationally in the polls.
“This was the story of the election, and (Wilson-Raybould) hanging onto her seat here is the nail in the coffin,” he said.
Taleeb Noormohamed. (Photo by Jason Payne/ PNG)
B.C. Liberals who will be returning to Ottawa include veteran MP Hedy Fry in Vancouver Centre, Joyce Murray in Vancouver Quadra, Carla Qualtrough in Delta, Randeep Sarai in Surrey Centre, Ken Hardie in Fleetwood-Port Kells, and Sukh Dhaliwal in Surrey-Newton.
Harjit Sajjan, who was the Liberal defence minister, will also return as the Liberal MP in Vancouver South.
Justin Trudeau with Minister Harjit Sajjjan during the 40th Annual Pride Parade in Vancouver, 2018. (NICK PROCAYLO/PostMedia)
Terry Beech survived in Burnaby North-Seymour, despite some strong opposition to his party’s pipeline purchase.
Patrick Weiler, a new candidate in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, held that riding for the Liberals.
Liberal candidate Patrick Weiler in West Vancouver. (Arlen Redekop / PNG staff photo)
The Liberals new “star” B.C. candidates failed to pick up new ridings for the party: former TV personality Tamara Taggart lost in Vancouver-Kingsway and former provincial health minister Terry Lake lost in Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo.
Justin Trudeau with Liberal candidate Tamara Taggart.
Some races for Liberal incumbents remained close late Monday, including: Ron McKinnon, who was leading in Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, and John Aldag, who was narrowly behind in Cloverdale-Langley City.
Twitter: @loriculbert