Monday February 12, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated 2 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Where there used to be two, electoral area boundary changes in the west shore area of Greater Victoria have produced three new west shore ridings (new geographical footprints, newly named).
- Langford-Highlands (population 49,110) – includes Langford and Highlands
- Juan de Fuca-Malahat (population 44,980) – includes Sooke, Juan de Fuca, Metchosin and Malahat
- Esquimalt-Colwood (population 58,356) – includes Esquimalt, Colwood, View Royal and Vic West
Candidate announcements are rolling in toward the October 19, 2024 province-wide BC election. Here’s where things stand as at February 12, 2024:
Langford-Highlands:
- The expected forerunner in Langford-Highlands is current MLA Ravi Parmar who would be the NDP incumbent candidate.
- The BC United is running Sean Flynn as their candidate in Langford-Highlands.
- The Conservatives of BC are running Mike Harris in Langford-Highlands. Harris ran in the June 2023 by-election in (the former) Langford-Juan de Fuca.
- So far there is no BC Green candidate in Langford-Highlands.
Juan de Fuca-Malahat:
- Now that BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau has shifted to Victoria (as announced January 31), there is so far no candidate announced by the BC Greens in Juan de Fuca-Malahat.
- Running for the BC Conservatives in Juan de Fuca-Malahat is Ukrainian-born doctor Dr Marina Sapozknikov who lives in Cobble Hill.
- The BC United Party hasn’t yet announced a candidate for Juan de Fuca-Malahat.
- We hear that District of Sooke Councillor Dana LaJeunesse may run for the BC NDP in Juan de Fuca-Malahat.
Esquimalt-Colwood:
So far the Esquimalt-Colwood race is an all-woman contest.
The NDP incumbent will be Mitzi Dean who has a wide political reach in the west shore. The riding was previously called Esquimalt-Metchosin where Dean has held the seat since 2017 (re-elected in 2020).
The BC Green Party candidate in Esquimalt-Colwood will be Camille Currie, as announced February 12. She previously ran a campaign in Langford-Juan de Fuca in the 2023 by-election.
The BC United Party is running Megan Brame, a former Esquimalt municipal councillor, as their candidate in Esquimalt-Colwood.
So far there is no BC Conservative candidate in Esquimalt-Colwood.
Maps:
Here are the boundary maps for Esquimalt-Colwood, Juan de Fuca-Malahat, and Langford-Highlands:
Vancouver Island:
As the population of Vancouver Island has grown steadily since the previous boundary delineations (in place for the 2017 and 2020 elections), there are now 15 ridings proposed for Vancouver Island. That’s up by one from 14. Many of the previous ridings are reshaped for 2024.
School district footprint:
As a result of the electoral area boundary changes, after the 2024 election both SD61 (Greater Victoria) and SD62 (Sooke/Westshore) will see shifts:
- Esquimalt-Colwood would have both SD61 schools (View Royal and Vic West), and SD62 schools (Colwood)
- Langford and Highlands: remains with SD62 schools
- Juan de Fuca–Malahat: remains with SD62 schools
===== RELATED:
- CANDIDATE UPDATES: BC NDP | BC UNITED | BC GREENS | BC CONSERVATIVES
- BC Conservatives launch family doc for MLA in Juan de Fuca-Malahat (February 6, 2024)
- Furstenau takes BC Green fight to downtown Victoria (February 1, 2024)
- West shore mayors chat over dinner at Vision WestShore (June 11, 2023)
- Three provincial electoral areas for west shore (April 18, 2023)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends posts local, regional and provincial news analysis daily at IslandSocialTrends.ca as well as biweekly in print (Premium subscribers receive a PDF of the print edition by email). | NEWS SECTIONS: POLITICS | VANCOUVER ISLAND
Island Social Trends began mid-2020 during the pandemic, in the footsteps of its predecessor West Shore Voice News (weekly in print 2014-2020) which was previously Sooke Voice News (weekly print 2011-2013).
Founder and editor for that entire series of news publications is Mary P Brooke. Ms Brooke now reports with the BC Legislative Press Gallery as well as covering wets shore news highlights.
Ms Brooke was nominated in 2023 for a Jack Webster Foundation journalism award for serving her community through journalism. She was a school trustee candidate in 2022. In 2024 Mary Brooke has launched the Urban Food Resilience Initiatives Society.