Wednesday September 11, 2024 | SOOKE, BC [ Updated September 13, 2024]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Herb Haldane was excited to be a BC United Party candidate.
But on August 28 BC United Party Leader Kevin Falcon pulled the plug for what turns out to be nearly all BC United Party candidates (a few will still be running in order to maintain party status with Elections BC and some are running under the BC Conservative banner).
Suddenly as a former BC United Party candidate, Haldane was left high and dry with no campaign in Juan de Fuca-Malahat.
But tonight Haldane has announced that he is throwing his support behind the BC NDP candidate in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, Dana Lajeunesse.
Lajeunesse and Haldane are both of long-time Sooke families. Haldane recognizes the work done by the BC NDP over the past seven years in what has been the Langford-Juan de Fuca riding — including and notably former MLA and Premier John Horgan’s work to achieve Highway 14 improvements.
Haldane feels that Conservative Party of BC candidate Dr Marina Sapozhnikov does not know Sooke well enough and that the Sooke area needs a lifelong Sooke person as their representative.
And it’s quite likely that if Lajeunesse wins for the BC NDP then a seat will be open on District of Sooke council, something that Haldane might be interested in.
So this is partly about the longstanding Old Sooke/New Sooke angst that has bubbled below the surface since the housing growth of the early 2000s, but also self-interest on Haldane’s part for possibly getting back onto council (he was a District of Sooke councillor for two terms up to 2014).
Calls came in:
After the BC United Party collapsed on August 28, Haldane did receive a call from BC Green candidate David Evans and from BC NDP candidate Dana Lajeunesse but not from the Conservative candidate, says Haldane.
Riding boundary changes:
The change from Langford-Juan de Fuca (which included Sooke under various riding names since 2005) may be part of the problems being experienced by several candidates in this 2024 provincial election.
The new Juan de Fuca-Malahat is huge (3,116 sq km) and creates odd bedfellows of Sooke/Otter Point to Port Renfrew/East Sooke brought together with east-side-of-the-island communities (such as Cobble Hill, Mill Bay, Malahat, Cowichan).
In Haldane’s case, he ultimately chose the long-time Sooke roots of the Lajeunesse family as his north star, even though Evans moved to Sooke in 1999 and has contributed enormously to development of the community since that time. One could say that Sooke-blood is thicker than coffee-in-community (Evans launched and ran The Stick in the Mud Coffee House 2007-2023).
Here is Haldane’ post on Facebook tonight:
“Well my friends it has been two weeks since the United party cancelled my run for MLA in this riding. I am a born and bred Sooke guy and our town is in my blood. I have always loved this place and have invested many years to causes in our town.
“I have had lots of time to think about how I move forward and what I see as the best choices to make that move. While I don’t agree with David Eby and the NDP on everything I cant just stand by and watch the Conservative candidate ignore my impact in this area and not understand the value of having the local knowledge and connections to be successful.
“John Rustad had promised to run the best people regardless of party under his banner and he has not kept his promise. I am left to doubt his honesty and integrity going forward. I was by far the best choice for a right-of-center candidate yet no call from the party and not even a call from the Conservative candidate to ask me for support.
“I have had calls from the Green candidate and the NDP candidate in spite of our political differences. I have known Dana Lajeunesse most of my life and his family. They are grassroots people that have given a century of time to this area and our community.
“Dana is a hardworking and honest man that will do the best representing us and delivering for Sooke people just as Ravi Parmar has done and John Horgan before him. While they were not my party they did get Sooke lots of road work and concessions that I can’t ignore and that is the most important part for me.
“Therefore I will be supporting my friend Dana Lajeunesse in the upcoming election. It is my bipartisan choice and I would have wanted the same consideration from Sooke people regardless of their party affiliation. I really think that this riding needs a lifelong Sooke person and the Conservatives have missed that.”
===== RELATED:
- Editorial: When a party leader pulls the plug (September 1, 2024)
- BC Conservatives are ‘untested’ says former BC United candidate Meagan Brame (September 1, 2024)
- BC Conservatives claim center-right lane in fall election race (August 28, 2024)
- BC NDP chooses Dana Lajeunesse as Juan de Fuca-Malahat candidate (July 21, 2024)
- BC United picks Herb Haldane for Juan de Fuca-Malahat race (June 28, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: BC ELECTION 2024 | SOOKE