Thursday June 15, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated 4:30 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Click here for: BY-ELECTION NEWS SECTION
Low to moderate voter turnout in the Langford-Juan de Fuca provincial by-election would — by force of the strong and well-organized BC NDP ground game — likely produce a win for BC NDP candidate Ravi Parmar.
Parmar is seen to be riding the significant platform that former Premier and Langford-Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan set up for him.
Meanwhile, BC Green Party candidate Camille Currie‘s team has been stirring up more interest than a by-election normally produced among voters, especially in the summer season.
This by default is providing more opportunity for voters to perhaps also be interested in two other main players — Elena Lawson as the BC United candidate and Mike Harris as BC Conservative candidate.
Parmar appeals as being with the current government party. Currie appeals on the strength of her activism around health-care. Lawson has been a high-profile autism advocate, and Harris has wide business community connections.
All four candidates have made a strong effort at signage, flyers, social media posts and announcements in the various communities in Langford, Sooke and Juan de Fuca.
There is also a candidate from the Communist Party — Tyson Strandlund — who runs in pretty much any provincial or federal race in the region. He makes articulate contributions and stirs up debate.
All of the interest and conversation about all this around the west shore is likely to produce some close results on election night, June 24.
Summer strategy:
Generally speaking, a diminished level of voter attention can be a plus during a by-election, especially when the sitting government can ably support their candidate. In slow voter cycles only the politically-attentive will be eager to turn up to the voting stations.
Premier David Eby has done a walk-about in both Langford and Sooke with candidate Parmar, to generate some more local excitement for the campaign.
Advance voting June 16 to 21:
Advance voting starts tomorrow June 16 and runs daily through June 21. Election day is on Saturday June 24, 2023.
Ahead of the fall session:
Langford-Juan de Fuca presently does not have an elected representative in the BC Legislative Assembly since Horgan’s resignation on March 31, 2023.
Horgan served the west shore riding for 18 years (first elected in 2005, serving in the Official Opposition until the NDP formed government under his leadership in mid-2017).
A by-election must be called within six months of Elections BC receiving notice of a vacancy in the Legislature. Eby chose to call it on May 27, setting in motion the 29-day campaign (including election day), so that there’s plenty of time for a new MLA to get settled in ahead of the October 3 start of the Fall 2023 BC Legislative session.
There is also a by-election right now in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant. Between the two by-elections, two new MLAs will arrive at the Legislature for the 2023 fall session.
Fall Session starts October 3:
The BC Legislative Assembly is presently on summer break, scheduled to return October 3 for the fall session.
One or both by-elections happening later in August could still deliver MLAs to the legislative chamber by the start of the fall session and glean more attention from voters as they return from summer vacation and think about back-to-school/back-to-work.
An election date after Labour Day in early September could captivate more voters who will be back in the groove of regular routines.
===== RELATED:
Camille Currie responds to Weaver endorsing BC NDP candidate (June 14, 2023)
Passing the BC NDP torch in Langford-Juan de Fuca (May 14, 2023)
Three provincial electoral areas for west shore (April 18, 2023)
BC Greens launch their Langford-Juan de Fuca candidate (April 6, 2023)
John Horgan wraps up 18 years in BC elected politics (February 9, 2023)
Decoupling of Langford and Sooke in proposed new BC electoral boundaries (Nov 22, 2022)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends is professional regional journalism at islandsocialtrends.ca. Fully online as a daily news portal since mid-2020, Island Social Trends emerged from the path of previous print publications in the west shore: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), and West Shore Voice News (2014-2020).
Since 2008, journalist and editor Mary P Brooke has taken a socioeconomic lens to reporting and analyzing the news of the west shore and south Vancouver Island region, including BC and national news impacts. [See Island Social Trends Politics Archive]. She has covered the details of local, provincial and federal elections since 2008. As of 2023 Mary P Brooke reports with the BC Legislative Press Gallery.
Mary P Brooke has also focused on news of School District 62 (Langford, Colwood and Sooke) at the board level since 2014 [see Island Social Trends Education archive] and has covered West Shore Parks & Recreation over the years (particularly the transitional years of 2014-2020). During 2020 and 2021 she reported daily on BC’s COVID pandemic news to build the ongoing COVID pandemic archive. Since 2021 she has been building a Food Security news archive.
Watch for the renewed print edition of Island Social Trends (formerly West Shore Voice News) in summer 2023. Advertisers welcome – inquiries. | How to be a Premium Subscriber