Saturday, October 19, 2019 ~ ESQUIMALT-SAANICH-SOOKE
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
Climate change — as well as affordability — are the top issues of this 2019 federal election campaign.
In the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke (ESS) federal riding where the race is expected to possibly be a tight four-way race between the major party candidates, Liberal candidate Jamie Hammond says a Liberal government has the best chance of enacting climate change legislation and enabling it through cooperation of industry, provinces and local communities.
That message met with a positive response during the all candidates debate in Colwood on Wednesday October 16. The audience — mostly high school students, but also members of the local community — seemed impressed with Hammond’s stellar record of military service including special operations command in Afghanistan. He has also worked for two of BC’s Lieutenant Governors here in the Victoria area: Steven Point and Judith Guichon.
Hammond is in the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke race against incumbent Randall Garrison (NDP), David Merner (Green), and Dr. Randall Pewarchuk (Conservative), as well as PPC candidate Jeremy Gustafson and Community candidate Tyson Strandlund.
There is a population of 120,834 in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke of which about 98,932 are listed as electors by Elections Canada. The major census subdivisions (municipalities) in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke are Saanich (part of Saanich in the ESS riding), Esquimalt, Colwood, Sooke, View Royal, Juan de Fuca (part of JdF is also in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford), and Metchosin.
The area naturally includes concerns for the ocean, the land, and employment related to those natural factors. As well, affordability of living in the south island region is top of mind for many voters, at a time when housing is considered unaffordable for many (whether to buy or rent).
The ESS geographical area is large, covering 404 sq km (156 sq miles). That’s a lot of ground to cover, and some of the candidates have been door knocking since December 2018.
The team leader for Liberal candidate Jamie Hammond says: “We’re continuing to spread positive messages about Jamie, and the real progress that has been made over the past four years – whether it is economy, or environment or poverty reduction. We’ll continue talking with and listening to community members until 6:59 pm on Monday!”
The 43rd general election is on Monday October 21, 2019. Voting locations will be open from 7 am to 7 pm (Pacific Time). Your voting location is shown on your Voter Information Card that was sent by postal mail in recent weeks. Or check for your voter information (including a full list of candidates for your riding) at www.elections.ca (search by postal code).
Already, more than 4.7 million Canadians have voted (in advance polls that ran October 11 to 14 over the Thanksgiving weekend), with 1.6 million of that tally being votes cast on the Thanksgiving Monday. Over 111,000 students voted on post-secondary campuses during advance voting.
This year’s advance voting tally is up 29% over the number of advance votes cast in the 2015 election, but in that election there were only three days of advance voting (compared to four in 2019) and voting stations were only open for eight hours per day (compared to 12 hours per day in 2019).
Most campaign teams will have drivers ready to assist anyone who might have difficulty getting out to vote on Monday October 21.