Monday, October 21, 2019
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
Two ridings that will be hotly contested on south Vancouver Island today are Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke and Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. Tuck into that also the riding of Victoria — the seat of government in BC — and it would be an amazing trifecta for the Liberals to achieve coveted political influence on the island.
Between them, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke and Cowichan-Malahat-Langford are two large areas that reach from west shore to east and politically encompass ocean, land, forest and community growth with all the incumbent issues of environment, housing, jobs and affordability. There’s the DND base in Esquimalt, the fishing industry, the high-tech industry, and a varied voter base of urban and semi-rural. The Victoria riding at the southern tip of the island offers an enviable lifestyle and is home to post-secondary. Trudeau wants it under the Liberal banner.
Last night at his end-of-campaign rally for committed Liberal supporters it was evident that the south island is in Trudeau’s sights for wanting to achieve ballot box success. He began his campaign here on the island on September 12 with a housing announcement in Saanich, and he wrapped up in Victoria last night. At both events he was backed by a flank of south island Liberal candidates.
On the stairs rising behind Trudeau last night were Victoria candidate Nikki MacDonald, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke candidate Jamie Hammond, Cowichan-Malahat-Langford candidate Blair Herbert, Saanich and the Gulf Island candidate Ryan Windsor, and Nanaimo-Ladysmith candidate Michelle Corfield.
Jamie Hammond is the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke Liberal candidate. His strong military background has likely garnered much support in the riding that includes the navy base and large areas where military families reside (in Sooke, Colwood and Esquimalt).
Blair Herbert is the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford Liberal candidate. Himself both a farmer and a Realtor, he has a wide range of business contacts in the riding.
Nikki MacDonald is the Victoria Liberal candidate. She has a strong university-community background in ocean sciences. She gave the introductory speech at Trudeau’s end-of-campaign gathering last night at the Bard and Banker Pub.
All three candidates have steadily and vigorously raised the Liberal profile on the south island during this campaign. In the west shore, Hammond and Herbert attended a number of all candidates meetings and did plenty of door-knocking.
Last night Trudeau talked about stepping up the fight against climate change, saying the Liberals have put in place a “pan-Canadian framework” to fight climate change. “The entire country is following BC’s lead with a price on pollution, right across the country,” he said, adding it was done “over the objections of Conservative politicians who haven’t wanted to do anything in the fight against climate change.” And added: “But that is the issue of this campaign.”