Friday, April 5, 2019 ~ NANAIMO / VANCOUVER ISLAND.
~ West Shore Voice News
A grand opening for Bob Chamberlin’s federal NDP campaign office will take place tomorrow Saturday April 6, at noon.
Provincial MLAs Sheila Malcolmson (Nanaimo) and Doug Routley (Nanaimo-North Cowichan) will be on hand for the event at 486 Franklyn St, at the corner of Franklyn and Selby in downtown Nanaimo.
NDP organizers say that during the past week since Bob Chamberlin won the NDP nomination in Nanaimo-Ladysmith that his campaign team has knocked on hundreds of doors and spoken to hundreds of voters.
Afterward, campaign volunteers will fan out to neighbourhoods throughout the riding. Volunteer crews will also be putting up signs.
“I believe the actions of both the Conservatives and the Liberals is going to galvanize everyone to come forward and assist the NDP to be the strong, concise voice for the average Canadian,” said Chamberlin after his nomination on March 30.
Candidate selection was going to be held by the NDP in May toward the fall general election, but came sooner after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Nanaimo-Ladysmith by-election on March 24, set for May 6 along with advance voting on April 26, 27, 28 & 29.
This sees voters returning to the polls for a third time in just over seven months (for Mayor in October 2018, MLA on January 30, and now MP coming up May 6). Malcolmson had quit her role as NDP MP to successfully run as MLA for the Nanaimo riding; the MLA position was vacant following NDP MLA Leonard Krog’s successful run to become Nanaimo’s mayor.
Also running in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith by-election are Michelle Corfield (Liberal), Paul Manly (Green), John Hirst (Conservative), and Jennifer Clarke (People’s Party of Canada).
Whoever wins the by-election will represent the Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding for just a few months and probably roll right into general election campaigning. The 2019 federal election is set for Monday, October 21.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a quick pop-in visit to Nanaimo on March 25, with a stroll along Nanaimo’s Harbourfront Walkway.
Of the 338 seats in the House of Commons, 42 seats (12.4%) represent constituencies in BC (41 presently filled). Of the BC seats, one is held by the federal NDP Leader (Jagmeet Singh is the MP for Burnaby South), and seven are on Vancouver Island — six of which are held by the NDP: Courtenay-Alberni (Gord Johns, NDP), Cowichan-Malahat-Langford (Alistair MacGregor, NDP), Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke (Randall Garrison, NDP), Nanaimo-Ladysmith (by-election underway), North Island - Powell River (Rachel Blaney, NDP), Saanich-Gulf Islands (Elizabeth May, Green), and Victoria (Murray Rankin, NDP).
The strong NDP presence on Vancouver Island generally provides a strong ground game to NDP candidates in the region.