Saturday June 24, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
BC Green candidate Camille Currie didn’t win the Langford-Juan de Fuca by-election this evening.
But she has already thrown her hat into the ring for the October 2024 provincial election, in the new riding of Langford-Highlands.
“I will continue to do everything I can to give people the support and opportunities they deserve. I will also continue to serve all British Columbians through my work with B.C. Health Care Matters,” Said Currie in a news release this evening.
Earlier at her campaign office she told Island Social Trends that she was pleased with the work and enthusiasm of her campaign team – about 70 to 80 volunteers helped her throughout the 29-day campaign, all of it with a positive upbeat energy.
Currie came in a close third in tonight’s provincial by-election in Langford-Juan de Fuca. But it was her first run at elected politics and she was up against the might of the BC NDP ground game.
By-Election results:
Candidates in today’s Langford-Juan de Fuca race produced these results (as of 9:20 pm, June 24, 2023):
- Camille Currie – BC Green – 2,386 votes (17.62%)
- Mike Harris – BC Conservative – 2,689 votes (19.86%)
- Elena Lawson – BC United – 1,169 votes (8.63%)
- Ravi Parmar – BC NDP – 7,224 votes (53.35%)
- Tyson Riel Strandlund – Communist Party – 74 votes (0.55%)
Might have come in second:
Currie might have come in second (as the Greens did in 2020) had it not been for the likely voter confusion over ‘where did the BC Liberals go’ phenomenon (seems the BC Conservative blue capitalized on the BC Liberals changing to BC United and changing their party colours to magenta and teal).
BC Green leader Sonia Furstenau issued a statement this evening, celebrating Currie and her campaign for being inspiring at the grassroots level.
Furstenau also thanked Wendy Hayko in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant who ran for the Greens in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, saying she looks forward to continued work with both Currie and Hayko.
Why the low voter turnout:
“Looking ahead, it is very important for me to emphasize that we as elected officials need to ask ourselves why so few voters cast a ballot,” said Furstenau.
“It is our job to engage voters – not just during elections – but every single day of the year. We need to demonstrate how important their participation in our democracy is.”
Voter turnout was 26.3% in the Langford-Juan de Fuca by-election tonight (including advance voting June 16-21), compared to 53.86% overall in the last province-wide provincial election in September 2020.
Perhaps holding the by-election on a Saturday in mid-summer was a detracting factor, with families out doing other things on a warm weekend.
===== RELATED:
Three provincial electoral areas for west shore (April 18, 2023)