PARKSVILLE — It was an orange shutout across central Vancouver Island as the NDP claimed a pair of Oceanside-based ridings.
Stephanie Higginson won Ladysmith-Oceanside with approximately 41.16 per cent of the vote on Saturday, Oct. 19, edging out Brett Fee of the BC Conservatives with 35.81 per cent. Independent Adam Walker finished third with 16.39 per cent while Laura Ferreira of the BC Greens placed fourth at 6.64 per cent.
Final vote totals will be confirmed over the coming days.
The uniqueness of the riding likely contributed to polls having a tough time picking a winner, with data suggesting a narrow Conservative lead or a toss-up leading up to election day.
“Throughout this campaign, I’ve been really fortunate with the folks from the Oceanside area who have reached out and I’ve already started building those relationships, I’m looking forward to strengthening them and representing the people of all of Ladysmith Oceanside,” Higginson said.
Made up of Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, Cassidy, Yellow Point, Ladysmith and Saltair residents, it takes roughly an hour to drive from the northern edge to the south.
The riding also poses representation challenges and affords constituents not-so-easy access to their MLA’s office.
Higginson pledged to ensure access would not be an issue.
“The drive from one end of the riding to the other seems like nothing to me anymore and I’m really looking forward to taking this unique riding and representing it in Victoria, and making sure everybody feels their voice is heard in what we do in the province.”
Independent Adam Walker, who won the then-Parksville-Qualicum riding as a member of the BC NDP in 2020, said the last four years were a privilege and he plans to remain an active part of the community, continuing his work as best as possible.
“This area’s got significant need and I want to be able to do what I can to support this community. I’ve lived in this community my whole life, I want to make sure it’s stable and people here are never left behind so I’m going to do everything I can to continue to serve people here in one way or another.”
Walker made concerted efforts through the campaign to frame his independent status as a positive, rather than being confined by party ideology.
Josie Osborne will return to Victoria as MLA for Mid-Island Pacific Rim (David Wiwchar/93.3 The Peak)Mid Island Pacific Rim stays NDP orange
BC NDP candidate Josie Osborne was elected to her second term in Victoria with approximately 48.53 per cent of the vote, ahead of BC Conservative Adam Hayduk earning 39.77 per cent and BC Green Ross Reid with 11.7 per cent. Final vote tallies will be confirmed in the coming days.
“Really this election is about how I’m working for people and the trust that’s been placed back with me to continue representing people here in this riding, I’m going to continue to work so hard for people,” said Osbourne. “Things are tough for a lot of people out there, we saw it and felt it during the campaign, we heard from people about…healthcare, affordable housing, affordability, the toxic drug crisis, things that are making a big impact in people’s lives.”
Osborne said people are starting to see the results of work the NDP has done over recent years, which may have helped sway the vote.
“People have seen some of the results that are beginning to come out in terms of the amount of housing we’ve built, childcare spaces we’ve built, being able to tackle affordability issues for people and they see that we’re heading in the right direction.”
BC Conservative candidate Adam Hayduk said he’d obviously like a different result but the campaign was one he embraced wholeheartedly.
He said the party made considerable gains in an NDP stronghold.
“This election for me was confusing because I came in expecting half the people I spoke with would say ‘sorry, we’re NDP, go away’ but at the doors and a lot of the leaders we spoke with it was quite the opposite. I didn’t know what to think running into it, but it’s a lot tighter than it was the last go around and it’s something the Conservatives will have to build on in the next election.”
Despite changes to boundaries elsewhere on the Island, the Mid-Island Pacific Rim riding stayed largely unchanged from when Osborne comfortably won it in 2020 with 58 per cent of the vote.
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