Tuesday October 22, 2019 ~ COWICHAN-MALAHAT-LANGFORD
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
NDP incumbent candidate Alistair MacGregor never took for granted the work or the opportunity to carry on as the Member of Parliament for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. In the October 21 federal election he achieved re-election with 23,095 votes (32.6%).
MacGregor and his team were organized and worked long hard hours over the 40-day federal election campaign, and of course for weeks and months ahead of that, getting ready for the fight to hang onto the riding that bridges west and east shores of Vancouver Island (including Langford, Malahat, Cowichan Valley and Duncan).
“I’m thrilled with the results. It was a tough campaign to get through. It was really nice to see all of our hard work over the last four years – and by all the volunteers during the campaign — validated by the results,” said MacGregor today in an interview with West Shore Voice News. Their campaign plan began in January 2019, with their campaign office opening in July 2019.
The strong ballot-box result came from the MacGregor campaign being about having “a really strong message for our campaign to really keep focused on affordability issues that many people are facing in this riding”.
MacGregor says that climate change is a big part of the concerns expressed in this riding, but that people also want to see that your party’s climate change plan also includes a good amount of attention paid to economic issues and social issues. “Our pursuit of environmental justice cannot be realized unless there is also economic justice and social justice,” said Alistair MacGregor today.
“Realizing and remembering who I am fighting for, that helped me stay focused for sure.” His overall impression of people struggling to get by included a range of people, from those struggling to make mortgage payments on a home that they own to people affording rent or even finding a place to live.
Housing will be a topic discussed in the new NDP Caucus in their first post-election teleconference coming up tomorrow October 23. The NDP won 24 seats across Canada (7.1% of the national vote), down from 39 seats at dissolution.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Jagmeet. I’m looking forward to working with him and my colleagues in pursuing the important issues,” says MacGregor.
MacGregor who will return to Ottawa for a second term in the House of Commons says the Liberals have a strong minority and that it’s yet to be seen how they will choose to govern with that — whether on a case by case basis or in any more formal coalition such as currently exists in British Columbia.
The next parliament will be convened at the discretion of the prime minister, which by law is within the next year but is likely to be much sooner than that.
Today MacGregor posted on Facebook a thank you to the voters for once again placing their trust in him, and a shout-out to fellow candidates for their contributions to the civic process.
Due to the vast geographical territory of the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford electoral district, MacGregor will continue to maintain two constituency offices — one in Duncan and one in Langford.
But first, this week, it’s back to more direct involvement with family life around his home in Duncan, including chores around the house and taking the kids to school.
====== Election Night Results (October 21, 2019) | Cowichan-Malahat-Langford:
There were 242 polls in the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding for this election. Voter turnout on October 21 (including Advance Poll numbers) was 63,802 of 92,637 (68.87%) which does not include electors who registered on election day. The population of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford is 108,052 (2016 census).
- ELECTED: Alistair MacGregor, NDP incumbent (23,095 votes | 32.6%)
- Second place: Alana DeLong, Conservative (16,456 votes | 25.8%)
- Third place: Lydia Hwitsum, Green (12,880 votes | 20.2%)
- Fourth place: Blair Herbert, Liberal (10,125 votes | 15.9%)
- Fifth place: Rhonda Chen, People’s Party (1,050 votes | 1.6%)
- Sixth place: Robin Morton Stanbridge, Christian Heritage (196 votes | 0.3%)
=== Alistair MacGregor’s Statement on Facebook after being Re-Elected in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford:
“Thank you to everyone in this beautiful riding of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford for the trust you have again placed on my shoulders. It has been a long and hard campaign, and I want to acknowledge and highlight the excellent candidates who represented the other parties.
Thank you to Lydia Hwitsum for your passion and commitment to environmental principles and Indigenous rights. You grew in confidence with every passing day of the campaign, and you were the person who seemed to be at every event. You ran a campaign the Green Party can be very proud of.
Thank you to Blair Herbert for being a person with a great sense of humour and for your passionate defence of Liberal Party values. I very much appreciated the times we spent together on stage at the debates. You ran a campaign the Liberal Party can be proud of.
Thank you to Alana Delong for your kind and polite presence. After having met you a few times, I can understand why your previous constituents in Alberta repeatedly sent you back to represent them. Thank you for putting the time in to represent the values of your Conservative supporters.
And thank you to Rhonda Chen and Robin Stanbridge for your efforts in representing the People’s Party of Canada and the Christian Heritage Party, respectively.
I acknowledge the heavy responsibility of being your MP for the 43rd Parliament, and I will do all I can to work hard for our amazing riding. Thank you again for placing this trust on my shoulders.”