Election 2019: All four leaders end their campaigns in Metro Vancouver trying to capture crucial B.C. votes
Credit to Author: Lori Culbert| Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2019 00:14:48 +0000
Hundreds of NDP supporters packed the Vogue Theatre in Downtown Vancouver on Saturday, waving orange party placards during a boisterous rally with their leader, Jagmeet Singh, less than 48 hours before election day.
“Friends, we are just a couple days away from a pretty historic election,” hollered Singh, whose riding is Burnaby South. “It has been a wild ride.”
The leaders of all four major parties are expected to be in Metro Vancouver this weekend for the final, crucial days of this heated campaign. Polls suggest this year’s race is so close that votes cast in B.C. are expected to play a major role in deciding Canada’s next government.
Elizabeth May rallied supporters in West Vancouver on Saturday, saying B.C. is a “battleground” for votes right now. She encouraged progressive West Coasters to support Green candidates Monday, arguing there will likely be a Liberal minority and that would enable Green MPs to fight for climate-change policies.
“I think we will be playing a constructive role in a minority parliament,” May predicted, noting her provincial colleagues have played an important role for B.C.’s NDP government.
.@CanadianGreens leader Elizabeth May campaigning in West Van this morning with dog Xo and daughter Cate. She projects an increase in Green seats to prop up a Liberal minority. #elxn43 pic.twitter.com/nQ3jQIK2Rk
May was scheduled to visit North Vancouver, Burnaby and the Downtown Eastside on Saturday, before an evening rally in Vancouver. Singh was to fly to Penticton after his rally, where the crowd jumped and screamed for the leader, whose popularity has surged at the end of this campaign.
Excited @NDP supporters at @theJagmeetSingh rally in Vancouver. #elxn43 pic.twitter.com/OdF06Wu5u4
The Conservatives say Leader Andrew Scheer will be in B.C. on Sunday, and the party is advertising a rally that evening in Richmond with candidate Alice Wong, who is running for re-election. A Liberal spokeswoman said Justin Trudeau is expected to be back in B.C. on Sunday, but his schedule hasn’t been released yet.
Leader of the Green Party Elizabeth May greets voters during a campaign stop at the Brentwood Skytrain station Oct. 19.
There is much at stake here.
The Liberals won 17 of B.C.’s 42 ridings in 2015, a massive increase over the two seats they won in 2011, but they’re facing tough fights to hold onto some of them this year. The Conservatives, who fell from 21 seats in 2011 to just 10 in 2015, are working hard to try to paint many of those Grit-held ridings blue again.
The NDP’s strength in B.C. remained roughly the same in 2015 with 14 victories, about one-third of the total number of seats the party held at dissolution — which is why B.C. is so important to Singh.
Also from B.C., May is running for re-election in Saanich-Gulf Islands, and her party’s only other federal seat is in Nanaimo-Ladysmith. Her party’s expansion dreams are rooted in this province.
Since the writ dropped Sept. 11, the leaders have made various stump speeches in B.C. Postmedia News analyzed the leaders’ travel to this province and found:
• Trudeau has visited B.C. over five days, for nine campaign stops, most of those in Metro. He twice campaigned with candidate Randeep Sarai running for re-election in Surrey Centre, and twice stopped in Burnaby South where Liberal Neelam Brar is challenging Singh.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau at an election campaign rally hosted by Surrey-Centre candidate Randeep Sarai on Sept. 24. REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier
• The Tories say Scheer has visited B.C. three times and made 10 campaign stops, many of them in seats the party lost in 2015 but would like to win back, including Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, Delta and Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer campaigns in Langley on Oct. 11. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
• Singh has spent 12 days in B.C., and made 30 campaign stops — four of them in his Burnaby South riding and another four in Victoria, where candidate Laurel Collins is in a tough fight to hold this seat for the NDP.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh chats with local candidates Breen Ouellette of Vancouver Centre, left, and Yvonne Hanson of Vancouver Granville on Granville Island on Oct. 14. REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier
• May has spent the most time in B.C. at 16 days, with more than 30 campaign stops — most of them on Vancouver Island, where her chances of growing the Greens beyond two seats is the greatest.
Green Leader Elizabeth May campaigns with Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke candidate David Merner on Oct. 4. REUTERS/Kevin Light
Twitter: @loriculbert