CRESTON — Holly stuck her big, bovine nose through the pen’s metal slats curious about the camera-wielding stranger in front of her.
It was one of the few spring days that’s felt like spring this year. And, Holly (at least that’s what her ear tag said) was hanging with her girlfriends totally oblivious about what was soon to happen.
That beautiful Saturday — Earth Day, as it happened — was also Spring Turn Out day. After months and months in the barn, it was the day they would be freed to graze on the lush grass at Kootenay Meadows Farm.
Earth Day turns in to Spring Turn Out Day for Kootenay Meadows Farm, April 22, 2017.
Wayne Harris opened the gate. The girls just stood there. Harris clanged a stick on the slats. “Come on, girls! Come on, girls!” he urged.
They stood a bit more. Then, finally, a big Holstein bolted, kicking up her back heels in the freshly spread sawdust and the stampede was on.
They thundered en masse down to the end of the field. Some kicked up their heels, others stopped, ducked their heads and briefly tasted the tender grass before hustling to catch up.
By the time they reached the end of the meadow, it was the grass more than freedom that was the attraction for most. But it appeared that there were the odd few who had scores to be settled after a winter inside. They bunted and lunged at each other.
Then, they settled, recreating the bucolic scene that’s been with us for centuries until — spooked by something — they bolted again, en masse. And, trust me, even if it is a herd of dairy cows, it’s a bit frightening to see them coming towards you.
Earth Day turns in to Spring Turn Out Day for Kootenay Meadows Farm, April 22, 2017.
They veered away as I scrambled for safety behind the electric fence. (My farm-raised mother would have laughed if she could have seen me.) As quickly as they’d started, they stopped, dropped their heads and resumed eating.
Spring Turn Out has always been an annual ritual at Kootenay Meadows Farm. But it was only a couple of years ago that Denise Harris realized how few urban dwellers had any idea of the exuberance of cows freed after a winter of being cooped up.
Harris got the idea to invite people to see it after witnessing the Swiss ritual of garlanding cows and parading them through villages each spring en route to the Alps. She and her husband also saw similar celebrations in Sweden where by law, dairy cows must be pastured for a minimum of eight hours a day for two months a year.
The first Spring Turn Out attracted only a few dozen people. This year? There were several hundred of all ages. Some held babies, others clung to little ones perched on the rails.
As the cows gambolled and a cellist played, Denise raced about. One minute she was inside the little shop at the edge of the pasture helping fill orders for cheese, milk bottled in glass and butter. The next minute, she was out the door checking to see whether she needed to restock the coffee, hot chocolate, cheese, crackers and doughnuts set out for the visitors.
The Harrises have been dairy farming for close to 30 years. Ten years ago Denise decided that they should try making raw-milk cheeses to showcase their high-quality, organic milk.
Since then, they’ve made quite a name for themselves and their intergenerational family farm. Their Alpinedon is the star. It’s made only from milk produced when the cows are in the fields and aged for at least six months to gain its strong and layered taste.
But it’s not just their dairy products or the annual Spring Turn Out that has endeared the Harrises to their community. They’ve taken in a family of refugees — Karen people from Myanmar — who live and work on the farm with them.
Most of us have moved so far from the farm that we have no idea about any of it — from the sheer size of a cow to how hard it is to raise them to how sweet the grass smells on a warming spring breeze.
Few of us know the rich, sweet taste of milk at the farm gate that is so different from the stuff on the grocery shelf stamped with its best-before date.
Within a few generations in Canada as family farms have been abandoned as adult children moved to the cities, we’ve forgotten so much.
The University of B.C. is displacing domestic students while allowing international students with lower qualifications into some academic programs, say a University of B.C. economist and University of Alberta law student.
UBC Okanagan associate professor Peter Wylie and law student Shaun Campbell presented a research paper at two different academic events this month, in which they argue some Canadian-raised students are failing to gain entry into in-demand career programs that are in some cases being filled by full-fee paying foreign students.
“I hope the new B.C. government will look into the issue of UBC’s differential admission standards for domestic and international students,” said Wylie, who has presented the contentious research data to economists, faculty, administrators and university senators.
“I find it hard to justify that a B.C. high-school grad living, say on UBC Vancouver’s doorstep and with an 85 per cent average, is denied admission to the university campus down his street and instead offered a place at UBC Okanagan, or having to go out-of-province, when an international student with the same average living in, say, Beijing is accepted.”
However, UBC vice-provost Pamela Ratner, who oversees enrolment, said Monday that “it is a myth that international students displace domestic students.”
UBC prof Peter Wylie’s research paper suggests foreign students are squeezing out domestic students. The university insists this claim is a myth.
After being sent a copy of the 23-page paper by Wylie and Campbell, Ratner said, “International and domestic students do not compete with each other when UBC is reviewing student applications; they are adjudicated in separate pools.”
Ratner stated that “each year the provincial government funds UBC for a set number of students and UBC consistently exceeds those targets. In 2016-17 UBC was funded to enrol 42,418 full-time domestic students and we enrolled 45,503 — that’s 3,085 more students than funded provincially.”
She added: “Last year 63 per cent of domestic high-school applicants who met UBC’s published admission criteria were offered their preferred choice of program (both campuses combined), compared with 60 per cent of international undergraduate applicants.”
Wylie said he’s aware that officials at UBC and elsewhere have consistently said foreign students never displace domestic students.
Higher education officials also generally maintain, Wylie said, that increasing the proportion of full-fee paying foreign students leads to the hiring of more professors and greater course selection for domestic students.
But Wylie and Campbell say their data indicates average UBC class sizes are generally not decreasing and course selection is generally not expanding, including in economics, philosophy and political science, the fields Wylie says he knows best.
The number of professors at UBC Vancouver, report Wylie and Campbell, has risen only marginally in the past six years, from 2,326 in 2010 to 2,424 in 2016.
The problem of access for domestic students is acute, Wylie said, in many of the programs most popular with foreign students, such as economics, as well as business and engineering.
UBC’s Ratner takes issue with the analysis of Wylie and Campbell, however.
“The claim that course selection is not expanding is erroneous. Having international students at UBC allows us to attract outstanding faculty and expand our programs,” she said.
“Since 2010, engineering, economics and commerce course sections have increased by 29 per cent. At the Vancouver School of Economics, for example, the number of tenure-stream faculty has increased by 33 per cent since 2006.”
UBC firmly believes that “international engagement benefits both domestic and international participants in post-secondary education,” she said. “The diversity of opinion, perspective and circumstance improves the educational experience for all engaged in the exchange of ideas.”
B.C. currently hosts 130,000 international students, compared to 90,000 in 2010, said Wylie, citing the B.C. Council for International Education. Four out of five are housed in Metro Vancouver. Two of five now come from China.
B.C. is home to 31 per cent of all foreign students in Canada, while B.C.’s population makes up 13 per cent of the nation, said the council.
Twenty-four per cent of UBC Vancouver’s 54,238 students this year were foreign nationals, say Wylie and Campbell, citing UBC’s annual enrolment report.
Wylie, former head of the economics department at UBC’s Okanagan campus, says he’s seen foreign students become the majority in his own classrooms.
“Meanwhile, many domestic students are on waiting lists to get into these courses. So international students definitely do displace foreign students,” Wylie said.
The paper by Wylie and Campbell provides statistics showing UBC Okanagan has consistently fallen short of its own enrolment targets for domestic students.
Following the ethical approach of Oxford University economist Paul Collier, author of Exodus: How Migration is Changing Our World, Wylie believes it’s important to weigh the needs of foreign students against the rights of domestic students and taxpaying parents.
Saying that international student programs are generally a positive concept, he said the challenge for B.C. is to find the optimal “equilibrium” of foreign and domestic students.
Wylie is particularly concerned about a 2014 UBC policy change that “allows different admission standards for domestic and international students.”
UBC can “maximize revenue” by not turning away international students, Wylie said, even if they fail to meet the “very high” grade-point averages (GPAs) expected of domestic students.
International students no longer have to “meet or exceed the GPAs of domestic students” to gain entry into undergraduate programs, said Wylie, citing minutes of a UBC Senate meeting.
Instead, said Wylie, UBC simply asks its administrators to assess whether applying foreign students, regardless of their GPAs, appear capable of being as “successful” as UBC domestic students at passing courses or graduating.
“International students are now able to get into UBC with lower grades than those needed of domestic students in many, perhaps all, programs,” said the report of Wylie and Campbell.
Ratner, however, said in a telephone interview that international and domestic students must have “comparable” qualifications to get into UBC Vancouver or Okanagan.
When drawing up the separate lists for domestic and foreign applicants Ratner said GPA averages “must be comparable,” even while they may differ from program to program.
She added that demand from both domestic and foreign students consistently far exceeds the number of seats available.
Wylie said foreign-student numbers are set to grow dramatically in Canada since the federal government recently became one of the few in the world to make an “integrated offer” to international students.
The integrated welcome to foreign students promises them the chance to work during their time in school and for three years after they graduate, as well as apply for citizenship.
The B.C. Council on Admissions and Transfers reports that two of three foreign students in the province hope to stay in Canada.
Wylie presented his paper in Victoria on May 1 to 30 people responsible for academic standards at economics departments in B.C., a committee of the B.C. Council on Admissions and Transfers.
After his presentation, Wylie said the group voted to ask for a provincewide study into whether domestic students are being displaced by foreign students in economics programs.
After spending the last 28 days on buses and planes, the three party leaders will be out on the hustings again Tuesday to encourage supporters to cast their ballots and to make one last effort to woo undecided voters in this too-close-to-call election.
B.C. Liberal party Leader Christy Clark is expected to be in her West Kelowna riding Tuesday morning to vote, then will be heading to Metro Vancouver, where the party is in a tight battle with the NDP for a handful of urban seats that could play a deciding role on which party forms government.
The Liberal election-night party is in a downtown hotel, just across the street from where the NDP will be gathering — an oddly close proximity for supporters of the two polarizing parties.
B.C. NDP party Leader John Horgan, running for re-election in Juan de Fuca, planned to help party organizers with the get-out-vote effort Tuesday morning, and then knock on doors in a couple of key swing ridings elsewhere in the province.
NDP Leader John Horgan waves after addressing supporters during a campaign stop in Surrey, B.C., on Monday May 8, 2017.
B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver will vote at 8:15 am at Gordon Head Middle School in his Oak Bay riding. He will be accompanied by his family, including his 19-year-old son who will vote for the first time.
In the afternoon, Weaver is scheduled to campaign in other Victoria-area ridings, such as Swan Lake and Beacon Hill, and will remain in the provincial capital for the Greens’ election party.
That Weaver is spending his last day on the island is not surprising, given that pundits estimate the seats he has the greatest chances of winning are his own, plus Saanich North and Cowichan Valley.
If advanced polls are any indication, polling booths should be busy Tuesday while open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nearly 615,000 British Columbians cast ballots over six days of advanced voting this year, compared to just 380,000 over four days in 2013.
Which party might be winning the race at this point is anyone’s guess. Two weeks ago, a Mainstreet/Postmedia poll had the NDP leading the Liberals by ten points across the province, and by an even wider margin in seat-rich Metro Vancouver.
On the weekend, a new Mainstreet poll showed the Liberals and NDP in a statistical tie for support, which led president Quito Maggi to predict that today’s results may change little in B.C.’s political landscape: the numbers, he said, suggest the parties may recapture roughly the same number of seats, about 48 to 49 for the Liberals, 33 to 35 for the NDP, and two to three for the B.C. Greens.
All the leaders Monday repeated the same message, although delivered with different partisan spins: It is crucial in this tight race that everyone votes.
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark and local candidate Jackie Tegart greet customers of a coffee shop during a campaign stop in Hope, B.C., Monday, May 8, 2017.
Clark campaigned from dusk to dawn, starting Monday in Richmond, then flying to Sidney and Courtenay (where the Liberals hope to retain one of their two Island seats), and finishing the marathon in Hope and Abbotsford.
While in Richmond, she urged British Columbians to vote Liberal to avoid “condemn(ing) our children to a worse life,” and warned against supporting the NDP or Greens: “Now is not a time we can afford to be weak,” she added.
Horgan spent most of Monday making a final big push in Surrey, an important city to court because it is home to nine of B.C.’s 87 ridings. He held a rally on the side of Highway 1 near the Port Mann bridge during the drive-home rush hour, to promote his promise to remove tolls.
Optics were bad for the NDP camp earlier in the day, when the party’s bus got temporarily stuck on a bump while leaving a Surrey parking lot. Horgan made the most of it, later Tweeting: “Less worried about my bus and more concerned about British Columbians getting stuck with four more years of Christy Clark.”
Weaver started Monday in Vancouver and ended it in Saanich North with candidate Adam Olsen, who finished third in 2013 — but only 400 votes behind the winner in a riding that resulted in a photo-finish three-way race. The Greens are banking on Olsen to cross the line first this year.
In order to vote Tuesday, residents must prove their identity and home address, by showing a driver’s licence, B.C. Identification Card, B.C. Services Card (with photo), or a Certificate of Indian Status. Alternatively, you can show two documents (for example, utility bills), both with your name and at least one with your current home address, according to the Voters’ Guide.
All eligible voters should have received in the mail a “Where to Vote” card from Elections B.C. You can also find voting places near you on the Elections B.C. website.
Look for election results after 8 p.m. on The Vancouver Sun website, or at elections.bc.ca.
Here’s a quick look at some of the numbers behind this year’s B.C. general election.
GENERAL
• 87 seats make up B.C.’s legislature
• 44 seats are needed to make a majority
• $77,674.62 is the expenses limit for candidates
• $4.8 million is the expenses limit per political party
VOTER TURNOUT
• 1,813,912 votes cast in 2013 (57 per cent turnout)
• 3,176,455 registered voters in 2013
• 3,156,991 registered voters as of April 11, 2017
LIBERALS
• 47 seats held at dissolution of legislature
• 87 candidates running
NDP
• 35 seats held at dissolution of legislature
• 87 candidates running
GREENS
• 1 seat held at dissolution of legislature
• 83 candidates running
— Sources: B.C. Liberals, B.C. NDP, B.C. Greens, University of B.C./Paul Kershaw, Elections B.C.
For the first time since Jonathan Barber was gunned down nine years ago Tuesday, all the details of the night of his murder have been described by a man who was there.
Ex-United Nations gangster C testified at the Cory Vallee trial Monday that he, another man dubbed “B” who will testify later, Barzan Tilli-Choli and Jesse Adkins were all in Adkins’ truck as they chased the Barber vehicle down Kingsway. They thought Jamie Bacon was inside. But Barber, a stereo installer, had just picked up the Bacon Porsche to work on it.
One of the Bacons had dropped the vehicle at the McDonald’s in the 7200-block of Kingsway. Coincidentally, several of the UN members were also at the McDonald’s on a pit stop while out hunting the Bacons.
That led to the chase that ended Barber’s life.
While several UN gangsters have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, none has actually been convicted of killing Barber.
FILE PHOTO Jonathan Barber, 23, of Langley , shot and killed in Burnaby while working on a vehicle belonging to one of the Bacon brothers.
Ex-gang witness describes the murder of Jonathan Barber in Burnaby
United Nations gangster Barzan Tilli-Choli blasted an AK-47 at an SUV belonging to the Bacon brothers, mistakenly killing a stereo installer who was driving the Porsche Cayenne at the time, B.C. Supreme Court heard Monday.
A former member of the UN described in detail for the first time what happened the night Jonathan Barber was shot to death in Burnaby nine years ago Tuesday.
The man, who can only be identified as C due to publication ban, said he was in a pickup truck driven by UN member Jesse Adkins, with Tilli-Choli and a fourth man in the back, as they raced down Kingsway to catch the Cayenne.
They believed Jamie Bacon, the youngest of the three notorious brothers, was in the SUV at the time, C told Justice Janice Dillon.
And they believed other Bacon associates were following the Cayenne inside a Jeep Cherokee that they also targeted, C testified in his third day on the stand at the murder trial of Cory Vallee.
Vallee is charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacons in 2008 and 2009, as well as the murder of Bacon associate Kevin LeClair in May 2009.
C said the UN truck caught up to the Cherokee, which was right behind the Porsche.
“Barzan says to get up along side of them, asks me if the guns were loaded. I say yes,” C said.
“Barzan starts lowering the rear window, the rear driver’s side window … He starts aiming the weapon at the vehicles and he’s starting firing at the Cherokee.”
C said Tilli-Choli fired six to 10 shots before he got a glimpse into the vehicle.
“Barzan was able to see in the window and said `holy shit it’s a girl,’ indicating it is a female in the vehicle,” C testified. “Once he saw her, he stopped firing because he didn’t want to hit the girl.”
Barzan Tilli-Choli in undated jail photo
The female turned out to be Barber’s girlfriend, who was injured in the shooting. She was following Barber in his vehicle after he picked up the Bacons’ Porsche to install a stereo.
After firing at the Cherokee, Tilli-Choli blasted another six to 10 shots at the Porsche, C said.
“At that point the Porsche lurched forward at a high rate of speed. Obviously the driver must have slumped forward onto the gas pedal. It was a turbo, so it had an incredible amount of horse power,” C explained.
The Porsche cut across the street in front of the UN truck, hit the curb and crashed into a cinder block garage.
C said he contacted UN leader Clay Roueche to tell him they had killed the youngest Bacon.
“I buzzed Clay and I told him we got number 3,” he said.
While C identified several UN members as being present both before and during the Barber shooting, he did not name Vallee has having a role in the slaying.
Tilli-Choli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in July 2013 for hunting the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpion associates.
He was sentenced to 14 years, minus almost nine years as double credit for the 4½ years he spent in pre-trial custody. In January, he was deported to his native Iraq.
C testified that he got personally involved in the war with the Bacon brothers after popular UN gang member Duane Meyer was shot to death in Abbotsford on May 8, 2008 – the day before Barber was shot.
After the murder, he and his fellow gang members got rid of the gun that was used, as well as the clothes they were wearing, he testified.
They also hid Adkins’ truck until they could retrieve it and drive it to Armstrong, where an associate dissembled it and sold the parts.
VICTORIA — A Victoria father is pleading for the power to check his 15-year-old daughter, who he says is addicted to heroin, into rehab.
The father says it breaks his heart to watch his daughter make life-threatening decisions. As a parent, he says, this is one he should be able to make for her.
“She’s a child. Her brain is not completely developed. She’s already suffering emotional issues and now the drugs are doing the talking for her. She’s not thinking rationally,” said the father, whose name cannot be used to protect his daughter’s privacy.
“I don’t think she will go to rehab voluntarily until she hits rock bottom. But I don’t think there is another rock bottom. I think the only thing that could happen is for her to die.”
The father believes his daughter began using hard drugs last summer. About three months ago, she had a medical emergency and was taken to hospital.
That’s when the family learned she had crystal meth in her system. She also told one family member she had used fentanyl and regularly uses heroin.
She has since gone to hospital at least once more for overdose treatment.
The father said he has had multiple frank and tearful conversations with his daughter. The family has tried everything from working with her therapist to hiring an interventionist, but is feeling devastated, exhausted and powerless, he said.
“We expressed our concern and yearning for her to seek help and rehabilitation. But at that point it became obvious that would be almost an impossible task.”
Reading a Times Colonist story about an Esquimalt teen’s overdose death on Easter weekend hit home for the father. He texts his daughter every day.
“I tell her that I love her and to be careful and to take care. And when I get a response, I just know that she’s alive. And that’s all I can ask right now.”
The question of whether youth should have the same freedom as adults when it comes to seeking treatment has divided the provinces.
Alberta has allowed parents to get a court order to send their children into mandatory addiction treatment programs since 2006. The period of confinement was extended to 10 days from five in 2012, and there is a provision that lets a judge extend that to 15 days.
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have similar legislation.
In B.C., the issue has been raised in recent years by Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond, the province’s former representative for children and youth. She called for involuntary secure care after finding some youth had died because they fell through the cracks of mental health and addiction treatment.
In October, Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux said voluntary treatment has been shown to be most effective and the province had no plans to offer involuntary secure care.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association also says there’s not enough evidence to show that forcing secure care works.
Policy director Micheal Vonn said the association favours strategies that are less intrusive, such as controlling the supply of drugs and providing it to addicts on a prescription basis.
“We have massive amounts of empathy for parents who find themselves in this terrible place,” she said. “That said, we are concerned about the notion that parents should be making health-care decisions for their mature minors.”
It’s important for minors to have control over their own health care when they have the capacity to do so, Vonn said, citing access to birth control as an example.
Determining capacity isn’t strictly based on age, she said. While it’s widely accepted that parents will make decisions for their seven-year-old children, a youth’s capacity to make their own decisions could come around 12, 13 or 14, depending on the individual. Consent to health-care treatment is based on maturity level, the Justice Education Society says.
Vonn also said forcing a person into short-term treatment could put them at greater risk when they’re released.
“The question then becomes, once they are released, are they actually more inclined or set up for an overdose because they don’t have a structured program to go into to support them in recovery?” she said.
Peter Beka, youth program co-ordinator at the Last Door treatment centre in Vancouver, said recovery tends to depend on how ready someone is to face their substance use.
“I think when an individual consents to treatment, there’s a personal buy-in and an investment to change,” Beka said.
He recommends families maintain open lines of communication with their children and avoid interrogative approaches. Look for resources through the health authority and learn about the variety of services that exist, including day treatments and private counsellors.
Family members should also access supports for themselves — it will be easier to help children make healthier decisions if you’re in a healthy place yourself, he said.
The Ministry of Health declined to comment, because of the upcoming election. Last month, it announced six new beds for substance-use treatment in Victoria and one in Port Hardy.
Island Health said referrals go through its “Discovery Program,” which begins with community-based counselling and can extend to residential treatment in Victoria, Nanaimo, Port Hardy or the mainland.
For his part, the distraught father said he will continue to text his daughter and hope for the best. But he feels increasingly worn out.
“It’s our responsibility as parents to take care of our children. And we can’t, if we can’t make them get the help they need,” he said.
“This huge life decision is being left up to the children and I don’t understand why it’s legal in some provinces and in the United States, but not here. Are the children here any less important?”
To mark Canada’s 150th birthday, we are counting down to Canada Day with profiles of 150 noteworthy British Columbians.
Caleb Chan, it has been said, probably owns more golf courses in B.C. than most people play in a year.
At the time of a profile of the businessman written in The Vancouver Sun, Chan owned eight, including Gallagher’s Canyon in Kelowna and Nicklaus North in Whistler.
The story by golf writer Brad Ziemer described Chan as an “intensely private individual” who “prefers to fly low under the radar.” Called the most influential man on the B.C. golf scene, Chan avoided the media but had agreed to talk about golf.
Chan, whose specialty is real estate development, became interested in golf in 1989 after buying a property which happened to have a golf course — Gallagher’s Canyon. It rekindled an interest in the sport that he had as a teenager growing up in the San Francisco area. But it was building Nicklaus North in 1996 that got him back into golf again.
Chan’s golf operations are grouped together under Golf B.C.
“It’s really not about making money out of it,” he said about operating golf courses, “but being able to sustain them and have facilities where people can enjoy the same kind of conditions you would find at a major resort.”
Golf B.C. now owns 13 golf courses, including three in Maui, four in the Okanagan, and two on Vancouver Island.
The Chan Shun Concert Hall at the Chan Centre is named after Caleb’s father. The hall’s shape is inspired by the form of a cello, and the blond maple wood on the hall’s curved walls help to distribute sound evenly. Overhead is a 22.7-tonne acoustic canopy meant to reflect sound back to the performers and audience. It is suspended on cables, which can be adjusted for different groups and musical styles.
Chan Shun was born in Guangzhou and founded Crocodile Garments in Hong Kong. He moved to Vancouver in 1989. As a Seventh-day Adventist, he started charitable Christian foundations which have funded more than 100 projects around the world over the past four decades.
Burrard International properties include the Burrard Building in Vancouver, Village Farm Greenhouse in Delta, and 455 Market in San Francisco.
The NDP scored a big win with George Chow over Suzanne Anton in Vancouver-Fraserview, a riding that pundits said the party absolutely had to re-capture in order to defeat the B.C. Liberals province-wide.
At deadline, Chow’s win was calculated at about 52 per cent of the vote total with 42 out of 91 polls reporting. An NDP crowd in the Vancouver Convention Centre roared and chanted “NDP!” as results came in.
The south Vancouver riding was one of the closest contests in 2013, and it has been a precise thermometer for the political leanings of the province, choosing the MLA from the winning side in every B.C. election going back to 1991.
In 2013, Anton, a former Crown prosecutor, won by just 470 votes. With a high-profile job for the B.C. Liberal government as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, she was a big target for the NDP campaign.
For Anton, a two-term NPA Vancouver city councillor and 2011 candidate for mayor in the city, the battle reprised a rivalry with NDP challenger Chow, who had his share of clashes with Anton in city hall, as a two-term Vision Vancouver councillor.
Chow, a former B.C. Hydro engineer, is active in the Chinese-Canadian community, and his background likely helped his chances in Fraserview.
NDP candidate George Chow speaks to reporters at BC NDP headquarters in Vancouver, BC, May, 9, 2017.
During the campaign, Chow said he felt a strong connection with voters in the riding, in which 67 per cent speak English as a second language, and Chinese languages are spoken widely.
Chow said the issues that mattered most to voters in the riding were affordable housing, health care, transportation and child care. He also focused on public education and working with B.C. teachers, citing how he benefitted from public schools coming from a working-class immigrant family.
In door-knocking with Chow, Vancouver-Hastings MLA Shane Simpson, who was re-elected for the fourth time with 60 per cent of the vote, said they heard, “lots of people saying 16 years is enough. It’s not a rah-rah thing, but there is resolve for change.”
Celebrating a win, Chow also reflected on navigating a minority government: “I do know we want to put a stop to the real estate speculation and we could work with the Greens or anyone to do that. The prices are just out of control.”
The NDP also retained important ground in Vancouver-Fairview, a central city riding where incumbent George Heyman was declared winner over Liberal challenger Gabe Garfinkel, a former aide to Christy Clark. At deadline, Heyman had 51 per cent of the vote over Garfinkel’s 34 per cent with 38 out of 97 polls reporting.
“Nine out of ten people told us that housing affordability was the reason they voted for us,” said Heyman in an interview. “People said they were just fed up with the Liberal government.”
Heyman’s lead was at about 44 per cent of the vote at deadline.
The riding has flipped back and forth between the two parties in recent elections — Heyman took 47.3 per cent of the vote in 2013, to steal a seat from the Liberals.
As always, the riding’s eastern Shaughnessy portions were untouchable Liberal terrain. But this time, the NDP apparently harvested overwhelming vote totals in the western portion of Mount Pleasant, a stronghold neighbourhood in Vancouver for the party.
In Vancouver-Point Grey, high profile B.C. NDP MLA David Eby had 53 per cent of the total vote over the B.C. Liberal party with 34 per cent with 59 out of 86 polls reporting.
NDP candidate Morgane Oger arrives at BC NDP headquarters in Vancouver, BC, May, 9, 2017.
In one of the tightest races of the night, and one of the last to be declared, Sam Sullivan of the B.C. Liberal party pulled ahead of Morgane Oger of the B.C. NDP by a few hundred votes in Vancouver-False Creek.
It was a nail-biter north of the Fraser Tuesday night, with Liberal and NDP candidates neck-and-neck long after the polls closed.
In the end, the NDP squeaked out a victory in bellwether ridings Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows and Maple-Ridge Mission.
“We did this because of you. We got here because of you,” said Lisa Beare, addressing supporters shortly before midnight. The NDP candidate for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows won by almost 1,500 votes, while fellow NDP candidate Bob D’Eith took Maple Ridge-Mission by 120 votes.
Predicted to be a tight race, the ridings north of the Fraser River have often been the only ridings held by the NDP in the right-leaning Fraser Valley. In 2013, former Pitt Meadows councillor Doug Bing won Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows for the Liberals, winning by just 620 votes.
This time, the incumbent squared off against NDP candidate Beare, a school board trustee. Both Christy Clark and John Horgan visited the riding several times during the campaign to bolster their candidates’ chances of success.
Maple Ridge-Mission Liberal incumbent Marc Dalton in action on election day in Maple Ridge, BC., May 9, 2017.
In Maple Ridge-Mission, incumbent Liberal candidate Marc Dalton was seeking his third term against NDP candidate D’Eith, a lawyer and musician who was the federal NDP candidate in 2015.
The riding typically hosts a tight race, although the Liberals have prevailed since 2001. In 2005 and 2009, it was among the closest in the province, with the NDP coming within 200 votes.
D’Eith was thrilled by his win, telling supporters he became a candidate to bring change to B.C.
“I believe we will see that change, and I am so proud of that,” he said.
In another close race, Fraser-Nicola NDP candidate Harry Lali was trying for a comeback against Liberal incumbent Jackie Tegart, who held onto her seat by 706 votes.
In a rematch of the 2013 race, Tegart and Lali went head-to-head to win the large riding that includes the region east of Pemberton along Highway 99 and north of Hope along Highways 1 and 5 until Kamloops.
Not unexpectedly, a host of familiar faces will return to the Legislature to represent the Fraser Valley, which typically votes Liberal. Perhaps the most familiar, long-time Liberal cabinet minister Rich Coleman won a convincing victory over NDP candidate Inder Johal in Langley East.
“We’re leading in the Fraser Valley, which is expected,” he said at 9 p.m., adding he expected to see results go back and forth in several ridings as the ballots were counted. “It’s going to be a long evening.”
In Langley, Mary Polak won her fourth term for the Liberals, taking 45 percent of the vote to beat NDP candidate Gail Chaddock-Costello.
It was a similar story in Abbotsford West, where Liberal incumbent Mike de Jong held onto his seat in the Legislature, where he’s represented the Fraser Valley since 1994. The longtime cabinet minister won over NDP candidate Preet Rai with 56 per cent of the vote.
In the eastern Fraser Valley, incumbent Liberal candidate John Martin cruised a smooth road to victory in the riding of Chilliwack, where the NDP has never won a seat in a general election.
In Chilliwack-Kent, incumbent Liberal candidate Laurie Throness beat the NDP’s Patti MacAhonic, benefitting from changes to riding boundaries that removed more left-leaning Hope and added an agricultural area east of Vedder Road that traditionally favours the Liberals.
A tragic end has come to the search for a Burnaby family that had been reported missing.
Ming Dong Xu, 38, his wife Yu Ling Zhang, 36, and their four-year-old on Garrick were reported missing after they left their Burnaby home around 3 p.m. Sunday and didn’t return that evening as expected.
On Tuesday evening, Burnaby RCMP announced the investigation had taken them to Mitchell Island, where an underwater recovery team was able to find the family’s silver 2006 Honda Accord submerged under water.
Police confirmed one individual was pronounced dead on scene, while another was found deceased near the vehicle. A third individual has not yet been found. No information has been released on which family member has been identified.
“Although it is early, foul play is not suspected, however the investigation is ongoing to determine what led to this tragedy,” said a police statement.
The B.C. Coroners Service has been tapped to investigate.
In the last election, the NDP’s Jagrup Brar lost the riding he had held for nine years by just 200 votes. On Tuesday night, he was redeemed.
Surrey-Fleetwood, which was won by Liberal Peter Fassbender four years ago, once again swung to the left.
Newly elected NDP MLA Jagrup Brar meets his supporters in Surrey, BC Tuesday, May 9, 2017 after the NDP won the Surrey-Fleetwood riding in the provincial election campaign.
Surrey-Fleetwood was considered one of the closest races in one of the most important election battlegrounds in the Lower Mainland, backed up by the fact that both party leaders made a point of visiting during the campaign.
Fassbender may have been one of Liberal Leader Christy Clark’s top cabinet ministers, most recently holding the portfolios of community development and TransLink, but he won by a narrow margin in the 2013 election and the riding boundaries changed in 2015, bringing in as many as 700 NDP voters.
After the riding was called for Brar, who won with 52 per cent of the vote, he addressed the NDP crowd gathered at Surrey’s Riverside Banquet Hall, and talked about building a new hospital and schools in Surrey to loud applause.
“This election was very important to the people of Surrey,” Brar told the crowd. “We did not get from the B.C. Liberals what we deserved. But I promise to you today, that if the people of B.C. elect an NDP government, in Surrey things are going to change, and we are going to work for you.”
Before polls closed Tuesday, Fassbender told Postmedia the new riding boundaries had made the race “more interesting for sure, but I just keep my eye on the ball.”
Asked about speculation the changed boundaries could benefit the NDP, Fassbender said: “There’s all kinds of speculation, I’m sure that the opposition wants to believe that… But I don’t worry about those things. Worry makes you old.”
The win appeared to be on trend for the NDP in Surrey, which at deadline looked to carry six of the city’s nine ridings in B.C.’s second most populous city.
Another riding to watch was Surrey-Guildford (formerly Surrey-Tynehead), where incumbent Amrik Virk, a former RCMP inspector, was challenged and defeated by another retired Mountie, the NDP’s Garry Begg.
In 2013 Virk won the riding previously held by longtime Liberal MLA Dave Hayer by just over 1,600 votes. However, with the name change came boundary adjustments and the opportunity for the NDP to pose a real threat.
Begg rose to the occasion and won with 49 per cent of the vote. Tuesday night before the final election results had been called, he told NDP supporters: “We’ve come pretty close to making this a fantastic night.”
“We promised during this campaign that we would put people at the centre of government, and I expect that you will hold us to that promise,” Begg said. “This campaign was run on volunteers, and courage. We were told that it was a big and daunting fight, and it was. But we prevailed, we did the right thing, and we won.”
When asked what may have factored into his defeat, Virk said it was hard to speculate, but suspected it was a variety of issues, from tolls to taxis to the redrawing of riding boundaries.
“Overall, the public has spoken and determined what their priorities are,” Virk said. “I hope they stay engaged going forward.”
• The boundaries and candidates have changed over the years, but the political preference in Surrey-Cloverdale has not. Tuesday, the longtime Liberal riding (since before the 1991 election) went to Marvin Hunt, a former city councillor first elected for the Liberals in 2013 in Surrey-Panorama.
• Surrey-Green Timbers has long been an NDP riding. Sue Hammell held the riding from the time it was created in 1991 until 2001, when she was defeated by Brenda Locke. Hammell took it again in 2005 and has held it ever since, but announced her retirement earlier this year. Locke ran again for the Liberals, but was unable to unseat the NDP, with newcomer Rachna Singh winning with 56 per cent of the vote.
Newly elected NDP MLA Rashna Singh meets supporters in Surrey, BC Tuesday, May 9, 2017 after her win in the provincial election campaign.
• Surrey-Newton is the city’s smallest riding and has a colourful history, going from SoCred to NDP in 1991, to Liberal in 2001 and back to NDP in 2005. That’s when Harry Bains won the riding for the NDP with 58 per cent of the vote. Bains won again in 2009 and 2013, and continued the streak on Tuesday with another win over new Liberal challenger Gurminder Parihar.
• Surrey-Panorama was one of the tightest Surrey races of the evening as results poured in. The riding has seen a rotating cast of MLAs since it was created in 2009 — all of them Liberal. But Tuesday evening the tide turned for the NDP, with Jinny Sims, a veteran politician with the federal NDP, winning 50 per cent of the vote to finish eight points ahead of Liberal newcomer Puneet Sandhar. Sims, the NDP MP for Newton-North Delta from 2011 to 2015, told a boisterous crowd of NDP supporters following the win: “This election is about you, each and every one of you… We’re taking B.C. back.”
• In the new riding of Surrey South, Stephanie Cadieux won for the Liberals. Cadieux, who was first elected in 2009 and served as Minister of Children and Family Development since 2012, won with 49 per cent of the vote, defeating NDP newcomer Jonathan Silveira. Although the riding is new, the area covered by Surrey South has traditionally voted Liberal. It will be the third riding Cadieux has served — she was first elected in Surrey-Panorama, and then won Surrey-Cloverdale in 2009 with 59 per cent of the vote.
Minutes after the riding was called for Cadieux Tuesday evening, she told Postmedia that even though the riding was new, it was carved out of parts of Panorama and Cloverdale, two ridings she had previously represented.
“For me, it’s home,” Cadieux said. “I wasn’t nervous to run there.”
• Unsurprisingly, Surrey-Whalley stuck with the NDP, re-electing Bruce Ralston with 58 per cent per cent of the vote, more than 17 percentage points ahead of Liberal challenger Sargy Chima. The riding was NDP from 1991 until 2001, when it went to the Liberals. Ralston first won the riding in 2005 and has held it ever since.
• Former Coast Capital Savings CEO Tracy Redies maintained the decades-long Liberal grip on Surrey-White Rock, where she defeated the NDP’s Niovi Patsicakis, winning 49 per cent of the vote. Redies became the Liberal candidate after four-term MLA Gordon Hogg announced in October that he would not be running again.
Not long after he became chief of the Squamish in the late 19th century, Joe Capilano started travelling to Vancouver Island and the coast to talk to indigenous groups about what were then known as native rights.
His speeches and work led to the event for which he has become famous: leading a delegation to London to meet King Edward VII in 1906.
Before he set out on his epic journey to the United Kingdom, he was known as Su-Á-Pu-Luck. In preparation, he was given the hereditary name Kiyapalanexw (Sa7plek) as a title befitting someone setting out to meet the British monarch. The title was anglicized into Capilano.
Joining Capilano were Cowichan Chief Charley Isipaymilt and Secwepemc Chief Basil David. On the way, they stopped in Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
When he met the King, Capilano was wearing a blanket with green, black and red diamond patterns made specially for his trip to England. The blanket, now known as the Chief Joe Capilano Blanket, was meant to protect him.
The three chiefs were upset at the number of settlers coming into B.C. They were encroaching on indigenous land without permission despite what Sir James Douglas, the former governor of the colony of Vancouver Island and B.C., had told them.
“We have our families to keep the same as the white man, and we know how to work as well as the white man,” the petition said. “Then why should we not have the same privileges as the white man?”
The petition pointed out that aboriginal title to the land had never been extinguished.
According to one account, the petition was not presented directly to King Edward, but was sent through diplomatic channels. Although Canadian High Commissioner Lord Strathcona organized a meeting with the king, the three chiefs from remote B.C. caused a sensation when they arrived in London.
The Morning Leader wrote: “When His Majesty heard how anxious the chiefs were to see him, he arranged that they should have an audience at Buckingham Palace.”
Also present at the audience was Queen Alexandra. Chief Capilano honoured the queen by giving her three baskets made by his young daughter.
Ultimately, however, the trip was not successful in addressing any of the chiefs’ concerns.
Back home, Capilano didn’t waste any time. He expelled the Roman Catholic Church from his community for failing to support his trip to London. He continued to lobby and organize for indigenous rights, despite being called a “nuisance” by Vancouver newspapers. Some government officials in the north called for his arrest and prosecution.
“Among his own people, he remained a leader of dignity and power,” historian Robin Fisher wrote.
Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.
That’s what happened in a handful of B.C. ridings Tuesday evening, where the margin between Liberal and NDP candidates came in at under 1,000 votes – close enough for the possibility of recounts.
According to Elections B.C., recounts can be ordered by the District Electoral Officer, or requested by a candidate’s official agent. Recount requests must be made in writing no later than three days after election day.
The requested recounts are then conducted by the District Electoral Officer during the final count, which is when absentee ballots are also counted.
“A recount may only be requested if the difference between the top two candidates is 100 votes or fewer, or if there is a belief that errors were made in the acceptance or rejection of ballots,” according to Elections B.C. guidelines.
The NDP’s Ronna-Rae Leonard has tentatively won Courtenay-Comox.
However, in the event of a tie vote or if the difference between the first two candidates is less than 1/500 of the total ballots counted, the District Electoral Officer must apply to the Supreme Court of B.C. for a judicial recount.
Those applications must be made within six days following the declaration of official results following the wrap of the final count.
While most were separated by at least 100 votes or more, one riding came down to a single digit.
In Courtenay-Comox, a difference of nine votes separated the NDP’s Ronna-Rae Leonard and the Liberals’ Jim Benninger. Leonard won the riding with 10,058 votes, while Benninger had 10,049. The Greens’ Ernie Sellentin came third with 4,907.
In Maple Ridge-Mission, Bob D’Eith won for the NDP with 9,843 votes, while the Liberals’ Marc Dalton took home 9,723 votes, a difference of 120.
The Liberals won Coquitlam-Burke Mountain after Joan Isaacs took 9,514 votes, just 170 votes more than the NDP’s Jodie Wickens, who took 9,344 votes.
Another riding that appeared to be a close race early in the evening was Vancouver-False Creek but in the end, Liberal incumbent Sam Sullivan ran away with the vote, taking 9,329 votes, a 559 difference over the NDP’s Morgane Oger’s 8,770.
Former Olympic athlete Ravi Kahlon scored a victory in the battleground riding of Delta North.
Kahlon, who represented Canada in field hockey in the Beijing and Sydney Olympics, now vows to be a voice for his constituents and champion their concerns in the legislature.
“The question around affordability and critical services people wanted were the main drivers of it,” said Kahlon of his win by more than 1,800 votes over Liberal rival Scott Hamilton with all polling stations reporting.
“We heard these issues consistently and the premier’s unpopularity was loud and clear in Delta.”
Kahlon wrestled the riding from Hamilton, a former Delta councillor, who won the seat in 2013 by a razor-thin 203-vote margin over NDP candidate Sylvia Bishop.
At a Surrey banquet hall where Kahlon gathered with fellow NDP candidates, his mood moved from “cautiously optimistic” when early poll results started trickling in to “optimistic optimistic” later Tuesday evening.
The 37-year-old, who has worked in the NDP caucus for six years, credited his team, many of them under-40 and new to senior roles in the campaign, with helping him become an MLA.
“Our goal was to engage young people in the political process as well,” Kahlon said.
The NDP made an aggressive play for Delta North, which historically swung back and forth between the two major parties.
On Tuesday night, their efforts — including a couple stops by leader John Horgan in the area during the campaign — paid off.
The Liberals, however, had other reasons to celebrate.
Liberal candidate Ian Paton lured voters back to Delta South’s traditional Liberal roots, beating closest challenger Nicholas Wong, an Independent, by a comfortable margin.
“Many years of community involvement, volunteering, and being on Delta city council the last seven years gaining experience has done me a lot of good and given me the opportunity to move to the next step provincially,” said Paton, celebrating his victory at a Tsawwassen hotel with supporters.
Delta South has been represented by popular Independent MLA Vicki Huntington for two terms.
The Liberals have a slight lead in the newly created riding of Richmond Queensborough where high-profile candidate Jas Johal was ahead of NDP candidate Aman Singh by 262 votes with all 87 polls reporting.
Richmond’s other ridings opted for the status quo.
Teresa Wat cruised to her second term in office in Richmond Centre North, with a 20-point lead over NDP candidate Lyren Chu.
Linda Reid, B.C.’s longest-serving MLA, won about 50 per cent of ballots cast in Richmond East. NDP candidate Chak Au, a two-term Richmond councillor, placed second with about 40 per cent support.
And in Richmond Steveston, voters chose to stick with John Yap, who will serve his fourth term in government.
British Columbia voters denied the B.C. Liberal party a new majority government Tuesday, instead splitting the political power base among three parties and plunging the province into the kind of uncertain minority government not seen in 65 years.
But Liberal Leader Christy Clark said she intends to keep governing as premier.
“Tonight we won the popular vote and we have also won the most seats,” she told a rally in Vancouver, after preliminary election results showed she won a minority government.
“And with absentee ballots still to be counted I am confident they will strengthen our margin of victory.
“So it my intention to continue to lead British Columbia’s government.”
Clark’s 49-seat majority won in 2013 vanished as voters rejected her singular focus on jobs and the economy, handing her instead 43 elected seats, with 41 per cent of the popular vote by print deadline, 11:30 p.m.
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan surged from 35 seats last election to 41 elected seats, and 39.9 per cent of the popular vote, as his party made major gains in the Metro Vancouver suburbs, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey and the Tri-Cities.
The B.C. Greens grew to three seats, with Leader Andrew Weaver holding his Oak Bay riding, while also picking up new seats in Cowichan, and Saanich North and the Islands, and the popular vote of 16.65 per cent as of 11:30 p.m.
Clark attempted to put the best spin on the results initially, but also acknowledged; “Voters always know best, and they reminded me tonight we are far from perfect.”
“We have been presented with an opportunity by British Columbians to open a whole new dialogue in our province, in our legislature, a dialogue about how we do things, what we should do, how we want to shape the future of our province,” Clark said.
“Tonight is the beginning of something very different and something I think could be really exciting about the future of our province and kids.”
Not so fast, said Horgan at his own press conference minutes later in Vancouver on Tuesday night.
“British Columbians have waited 16 years for a government that works for them, and we are going to have to ask you to wait a little bit longer until all the votes are counted and the final results of this election are known,” said Horgan, as the crowd chanted “NDP.”
“But this is what we do know: A majority of British Columbians voted for a new government and I believe that’s what they deserve.”
Weaver called it “a historic day.”
“People across British Columbia have shown they are ready for politics to be done differently in this province,” he said from Victoria. “We offered them a change that they could count on and British Columbians delivered that change tonight.”
Many of the ridings could face shifting outcomes as absentee ballots, and advanced ballots cast outside a person’s riding, are counted during Elections B.C.’s final count process, which begins May 22 and runs to May 24.
Even after then, candidates can ask for a recount in ridings in which the margin of victory is fewer than 100 votes. A riding can go to a more formal judicial recount if “the difference between the votes received by the candidate declared elected and the candidate with the next highest number of votes is less than 1/500 of the total ballots considered,” according to the B.C. Elections Act.
Weaver frequently argued during the campaign that neither the Liberals nor the NDP should be trusted with a majority government.
He appears to have got his wish.
B.C. is likely headed to a minority government for the first time since 1952 when W.A.C. Bennett’s Social Credit party defeated the then-coalition government of the Liberals and Conservatives.
Bennett’s minority government lasted a year, before he was defeated and won a new majority.
A minority government would mean no single party would have the 44-vote majority in the legislature required to force through a budget or legislation.
It also means the B.C. Greens could hold the balance of power on all of the business of government in Victoria, with the potential to topple the party in power and plunge the province into an election at any moment.
There are several possible scenarios to play out in the days ahead.
The first, and most likely, would see the party with the most seats approach Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon and ask to form government and reconvene the legislature. In a technical tie, Clark’s Liberals could take first crack at governing.
“We may not know how this all pans out for another two weeks, but if it looks as it does tonight the Greens look like they are going to be the government-makers,” said veteran political scientist Norman Ruff.
“And although they are falling short of the four seats needed to be recognized as an official party, the deposition in fact will be far stronger because they’ll get to decide who forms the government.
“Presumably, Christy Clark and John Horgan will both be wanting to talk to Mr. Weaver, and the attention shifts to the conditions he’d have to support either of those parties.”
Any government would have to cobble together the co-operation of the Greens, or MLAs from the other parties, for every vote — from its throne speech, to its budget to any legislation it chooses to introduce, or risk defeat.
It would also be possible for the parties to form a more formal coalition, and then approach Guichon to try to govern in that way.
Much of the brokerage power now rests in the hands of Weaver, a former climate scientist and professor from the University of Victoria who became the party’s first MLA when he won the Vancouver Island riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head in 2013.
During the campaign, he laid out his requirements to support another party — mainly that it reform B.C.’s first past the post electoral system and end corporate and union donations.
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and his wife Ellie watch election results on television at a hotel after the provincial election polls closed, in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.
Regardless of what plays out next, British Columbians are in for a dramatic shift in how government is conducted in the province.
Under the NDP in the 1990s, and the Liberals in the 2000s, there was a big enough margin of error that cabinet ministers and MLAs could travel the province, announcing projects, cutting ribbons, visiting sites and holding meetings.
For B.C. Liberal Leader Clark, her previous majority gave her the freedom to barely attend any proceedings of the legislature, choosing instead to conduct virtually all the business of government from Vancouver while attending legislative proceedings once, maybe twice, a week.
Now, with the threat of a snap vote at any moment that could bring down the governing party, MLAs will be virtually tied to their seats in Victoria, with routine matters like sick days or personal leave becoming potentially highly-contentious matters that could see government fail a confidence vote.
Four Liberal cabinet ministers were defeated Tuesday -Attorney General Suzanne Anton, TransLink Peter Fassbender, Technology Minister Amrik Virk, and minister of state for emergency Naomi Yamamoto.
It was a closely fought, bitterly-negative campaign. Clark focused on jobs and the economy, but failed to rekindle the support from 2013. The NDP offered to scrap Metro bridge tolls and $10-a-day daycare, and hammered Clark as a corrupt leader whose party was compromised by big corporate donors.
A wave of NDP support crashed through key swing ridings in Vancouver, the Tri-Cities, Burnaby and Surrey.
The Liberals staunched some of the bleeding from their Lower Mainland trouncing by holding off NDP challenges in the Okanagan ridings of Penticton and Boundary-Similkameen, holding Fraser Nicola, and picking up a key victory in Skeena with former Haisla Nation chief Ellis Ross.
Other key victories included Liberal Ian Paton winning Delta South, a riding up for grabs after independent Vicki Huntington retired, and former Global B.C. reporter Jas Johal picking up the new riding of Richmond Queensborough.
But the NDP kept chipping away, denying Liberal star candidate Steve Darling a seat in the legislature in Burnaby-Lougheed with the NDP’s Katrina Chen.
A dense crowd at NDP headquarters inside the Vancouver Convention Centre alternated cheering and chanting with moments of nervousness as the seat count changed hands over the course of the evening.
The party faithful saved their biggest cheers for confirmation that Leader John Horgan and veteran MLA Judy Darcy retained their seats.
At the Liberal headquarters, the mood was festive as the early results trickled in shortly after 8 p.m., showing the Liberals jumping out ahead of the NDP in many ridings. The applause was loudest when leader Christy Clark was declared elected in Kelowna West.
Supporters applauded enthusiastically as Liberals in safe ridings were elected, but the mood turned glum shortly after 9 p.m. as the race tightened up — the results showing the Liberals and NDP essentially tied. Earlier drinking wine and boisterous, the quiet crowd was glued to their phones and the TV screens hoping for good news.
The 28-day campaign was among the most personal and negative in recent B.C. memory, with the three parties spending considerable energy attacking each other’s integrity in debates and through a torrent of advertisements.
The NDP had high hopes that a string of scandals — including cash-for-access fundraisers by Clark and her ministers — combined with public fatigue over underfunded public education and health care systems would spark a change movement within the electorate. The party has only won three of the last 20 elections.
Going into the election Monday, Horgan said he had “absolutely zero regrets” about the campaign, which saw him grow into a competent retail politician bolstered by an NDP backroom that eschewed the usual provincial players in favour of fresh out-of-province experts.
The party released an ambitious platform offering popular vote-getting measures like $10-a-day daycare, an end to tolls on Metro bridges and money to eliminate portables in Surrey schools. It wasn’t fully costed, but the public did not appear to hold it against the NDP.
Clark, meanwhile, started her campaign slowly with a stand-pat platform that failed to rekindle the magic of her 2013 campaign by distilling down almost all the issues to a promise to keep taxes low, grow the economy, limit government spending and create good-paying middle-class jobs.
Known for her skills as a campaigner, Clark nonetheless faltered after a series of self-inflicted missteps, including a video of her abruptly walking away from a voter in North Vancouver that went viral, as well as allowing speculation over a value added tax to grow for several days and rekindle fears of the HST.
We’ll be live all night as the B.C. election comes down to the final tallies. Watch this space for results, news and social media reaction as the province decides who will run the B.C. government for the next four years.
TIGHT RACE, CLOSE RIDINGS
The Liberals and the NDP remain locked in a tight race with a handful of ridings in the province’s 87-seat legislature still to be determined.
Forty-two Liberals were elected to the legislature compared with 41 New Democrats, with the NDP gaining ground in the seat-rich Lower Mainland where it had focused its campaign.
In her speech at the Liberal headquarters, Liberal Leader Christy Clark called the result, which is looking more and more like a minority Liberal government, “exciting” and “different.”
Clark said she was confident absentee ballots — which were still to be counted — would strengthen her party’s margin of victory, but said she was prepared to work with the NDP and Green party.
.@christyclarkbc: "I will work with the other parties to do what needs to be done to keep fighting to protect” BC. #bcelxn17
“It is my intention to continue to lead British Columbia’s government,” said Clark. “Voters reminded us tonight that we are far from perfect … our job is to lead but it’s also our job to remember who we serve.”
.@christyclarkbc : "Tonight is the beginning of something very different and something I think could be really exciting” #bcelxn17
Neither Clark nor NDP Leader John Horgan conceded defeat in their post-election speeches.
“A majority of British Columbians voted for a different government and that’s what they deserve,” Horgan told party faithful at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
The Greens achieved a historic breakthrough by electing three members to the legislature, including Leader Andrew Weaver, who kept his seat in Oak Bay-Gordon Head.
Green HQ supporters laugh at Lib leader Christy Clark's conclusion that election result means have to do thing differently. #bcelexn
The chance of the Green party holding the balance of power in a minority government situation is a possibility. The last time there was a minority government in the province was 1952.
Mitzi Dean — executive director of the Pacific Centre Family Services Association — has retained the NDP seat long held by Maurine Karagianis, who chose not to run for re-election.
er attorney general and justice minister Suzanne Anton lost her seat in one of the night’s key upsets, beaten by NDP challenger George Chow by a 1,000-vote margin in Vancouver-Fraserview. Chow was a Vision Vancouver councillor for two terms.
Liberal cabinet minister Michelle Stilwell has been re-elected in Parksville-Qualicum. The paralympic wheelchair racer serves as , Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation.
NDP candidate Jagrup Brar proved to be a giant killer in Surrey-Fleetwood as he defeated Peter Fassbender. Brar has previously served as MLA in Surrey-Panorama Ridge and Surrey-Fleetwood. Fassbender had been one of Liberal Leader Christy Clark’s top cabinet ministers, most recently holding the portfolios of community development and TransLink.
Liberal John Martin has been elected to a second term in Chilliwack. The former criminal justice instructor at Douglas College fired one of his assistants in March after tens of thousands of dollars in public funds have gone missing from his constituency office.
Two-time Olympic field hockey player Ravi Kahlon is the new MLA for Delta North, taking back the seat for the NDP. The 37-year-old dad and NDP caucus worker defeated Liberal incumbent Scott Hamilton.
Liberal House Leader Linda Reid has retained the Richmond South Centre riding she has held since 1991. She is B.C.’s longest-serving active MLA.
In Nanaimo-North Cowichan, NDP warhorse Doug Routley has been re-elected for his fourth consecutive term.
Dan Ashton has kept the Penticton seat he won for the Liberals in 2013, taking about half the vote over NDP and Green contenders. He has pledged to build an expansion to the regional hospital in the riding as well as more affordable housing.
The NDP stronghold of New Westminster stayed orange as Judy Darcy won re-election. Darcy, a former head of CUPE, the biggest union in Canada, served as health critic.
Liberal Stephanie Cadieux, children and family development minister, former Paralympian, has been re-elected in Surrey South.
NDP MLA Michelle Mungall has been re-elected for a third term in Nelson Creston. A strong showing by Green candidate Kim Charlesworth created a tighter race than usual in the traditional NDP bastion.
NDP MLA George Heyman has been re-elected in Vancouver-Fairview, easily surviving a challenge from Liberal Gabe Garfinkel, a former aide to Christy Clark. Heyman is the former executive director of Sierra Club B.C.
David Eby — the prominent human rights lawyer who beat Liberal Leader Christy Clark in Vancouver-Point Grey in the last election and became a leading voice for the NDP opposition — has retained his seat.
Two-term Liberal incumbent Jane Thornthwaite has been re-elected in Vancouver-Seymour, a riding in which both the NDP and Green gained ground from the 2013 result.
Liberal Mike Morris has been re-elected in Prince George-Mackenzie. The former Mountie has served as Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General since 2015.
NDP MLA Mable Elmore has won a third term in the Vancouver-Kensington riding. She was the first elected MLA of Filipino heritage when she won the riding in 2009 and has worked on immigration, social justice and workers’ rights issues.
The Conroy NDP dynasty lives on Kootenay West with the re-election of Katrine Conroy. Conroy has served the riding since 2005. Her husband Ed had represented the riding from 1991-2001.
Linda Larson has been re-elected in the Okanagan riding of Boundary-Similkameen. The small-business owner served as mayor of Oliver from 1997 to 2005.
Outspoken and popular NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert has been re-elected in Vancouver-West End in a landslide, easily outdistancing challenges from the Liberal Nigel Elliott and Green candidate James Marshall.
NDP MLA Rob Fleming kept his seat in Victoria-Swan Lake. The former UVic student union president and Victoria city councillor held off a challenge in a riding the Greens had targeted in its attempt at an Island breakthrough.
Three-term MLA Shane Simpson has been re-elected in the NDP stronghold of Vancouver-Hastings. Between Simpson and predecessor Joy McPhail, the NDP has never lost in Vancouver-Hastings.
NDP stalwart Mike Farnworth was declared the winner by Canadian Press by a wide margin over Liberal Susan Chambers to re-take Port Coquitlam. Farnworth has served as MLA since 1991.
B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark has handily won the Kelowna West riding, but her party’s hold on power is far from assured with a near dead heat with the NDP across B.C.
Laurie Throness has been re-elected MLA for Chilliwack-Hope. Throness has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Corrections,
Liberal Eric Foster has won his third term in Vernon-Monashee. The former mayor of Lumby served most recently as Government Whip and a member of the Environment and Land Use Committee.
Teresa Wat has won the seat in the newly created riding of Richmond North Centre. The Hong Kong native who immigrated to Canada in 1989 has served as minister of international trade and minister responsible for Asia-Pacific strategy and multiculturalism.
Liberal MLA and education minister Mike Bernier breezed to victory in Peace River South. Before being elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2013, Bernier served as mayor of Dawson Creek.
NDP Leader John Horgan has easily won his riding of Langford-Juan de Fuca. First elected in 2005, Horgan was acclaimed as NDP Leader in 2014.
Ralph Sultan, who was first elected in West Vancouver-Capilano in 2001, has retained his North Shore seat. His lengthy resumé as an economist, including a doctorate from Harvard, has been used in a number of cabinet roles and committees over the years.
Liberal John Yap has won a fourth straight term in the riding of Richmond-Steveston. He has served on several cabinet committees tackling issues such as liquor policy reform and red tape reduction.
Liberal Donna Barnett has been re-elected in Cariboo-Chilcotin. Barnett served as mayor of the District of 100 Mile House from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1996 to 2008.
A city councillor for Fort St. John since 2005, Dan Davies has won in the Liberal stronghold of Peace River North. at Pimm was elected in the riding in 2013, but stepped down last year after being charged with assault. That charge has since been stayed but he didn’t run for re-election.
Liberal cabinet stalwart Mike de Jong has been re-elected in Abbotsford West. De Jong has represented Abbotsford for more than 20 years and was most recently Christy Clark’s minister of finance and government house leader.
Former Cranbrook city councillor and financial adviser Tom Shypitka has won Kootenay East for the Liberals.
Liberal Jordan Sturdy has been re-elected in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky as the Green and NDP split the left vote in the affluent riding. Prior to being elected, Jordan served as Mayor of Pemberton for three term
Scott Fraser of the NDP has been re-elected for a fourth straight term, winning the new riding of Mid Island-Pacific Rim. He’s a former mayor of Tofino who now lives in Nanaimo. Mid Island-Pacific Rim was formed during a 2015 electoral district redistribution from parts of Alberni-Pacific Rim and Comox Valley.
B.C. Liberal Greg Kyllo has been re-elected in Shuswap. Kyllo, who has served one term, is president of a ship building company based in Sicamous.
Longtime Liberal MLA Shirley Bond has been re-elected in Prince George-Valemont. Bond, the Liberal government’s Minister of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour, was first elected in 2001.
Kamloops mayor Peter Milobar has won Kamloops-North Thompson for the Liberals. He succeeds Liberal MLA and health minister Terry Lake, who chose not to run for re-election.
Delta city councillor Ian Paton has won the Delta South seat for the Liberal party. Paton got some press on Monday when he posted a Twitter picture with Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander, who was location scouting for a TV show on Paton’s farm.
Veteran MLA Harry Bains has easily retained the riding of Surrey-Newton, where he has held the seat for the NDP since 2005.
Tracy Redies has taken the seat for the Liberals, in a riding that was affected by Christy Clark’s proposed ban on thermal coal shipments — which pass along the community’s coastal track.
Liberal incumbent Darryl Plecas kept his seat in Abbotsford South, where he was first elected in 2013 by topping B.C. Liberal defector John van Dongen.
NDP incumbent Melanie Mark has been re-elected in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant. Mark gained her seat in a 2016 by-election — after longtime NDP MLA Jenny Kwan stepped aside to run federally.
Liberal Steve Thomson has been re-elected in Kelowna-Mission. Thomson was first elected in 2009.
NDP incumbent and longtime MLA Nicholas Simons retains his seat on Powell River-Sunshine Coast.
Norm Letnick, the Minister of Agriculture, has retained his seat. The Canadian Press has called Letnick the winner in Kelowna-Lake Country with 26 polls reporting.
Another Liberal cabinet minister, Andrew Wilkinson, has been declared the winner in Vancouver-Quilchena with 12 polls reporting.
Former NDP leader Adrian Dix commanded 60 per cent of the vote in Vancouver-Kingsway. He has held the seat since 2005.
LIBERALS UP SLIGHTLY AT 9 P.M.
With polls closed for an hour, the B.C. Liberals are trending toward a minority government, with 42 seats in which they are leading or elected.
The NDP had 39 seats and the Greens one.
However, Elections B.C. still reports 10 constituencies in which no votes have been tallied, so it’s early going yet.
DON’T SPLIT THE TELL ME HOW TO VOTE
While voting booths were open, social media was awash with NDP supporters — and even a few purported Green party members — urging people not to vote Green and “split the vote,” thus allowing the Liberals to slip up the middle.
While the strategic message might be sound, you have to wonder if there was backlash by offended voters who were leaning Green — and didn’t appreciate being told what to do.
STUDENT VOTE IS NDP LANDSLIDE
The Student Vote campaign sent out a press release right at 8 p.m. heralding a major NDP victory.
Good thing we opened the email first before tweeting it, Dewey-style:
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT SOME OF THE NUMBERS
BEHIND THIS YEAR’S B.C. GENERAL ELECTION
General
• 87 seats make up B.C.’s legislature
• 44 seats are needed to make a majority
• $77,674.62 is the expenses limit for candidates
• $4.8 million is the expenses limit per political party
Voter turnout
• 1,813,912 votes cast in 2013 (57 per cent turnout)
• 3,176,455 registered voters in 2013
• 3,156,991 registered voters as of April 11, 2017
Liberals
• 47 seats held at dissolution of legislature
• 87 candidates running
NDP
• 35 seats held at dissolution of legislature
• 87 candidates running
Greens
• 1 seat held at dissolution of legislature
• 83 candidates running
WONDER WHO THEY VOTED FOR?
Liberal Leader Christy Clark and Green Leader Andrew Weaver both voted today. Weaver cast his ballot in his home riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head on Vancouver Island, while Clark, whose home riding is in Kelowna West, actually voted in Vancouver’s Dunbar area, where she has a residence.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. and Green Leader AndrewWeaver was among the first in line at a middle school in his Victoria-area constituency of Oak Bay-Gordon Head.
“It was a lot of kids excited to see us come and vote there. And that’s what it’s about. It’s about making decisions that are not only for this generation, but also for the next,” Weaver told Canadian Press..
B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver arrives with his family to vote on election day at Gordon Head Middle School in Victoria on Tuesday.
Clark voted at a community centre in Vancouver, where poll workers had to intervene after a man approached her yelling insults. Speaking at a campaign office in her riding, Clark told the Canadian Press she’s confident the Liberals have done everything they could to reach voters over the past four weeks of campaigning.
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark takes a selfie at a polling station after casting her ballot in Vancouver on Tuesday.
NDP Leader John Horgan voted more than a week ago in his riding of Juan de Fuca on Vancouver Island when advanced polls first opened on April 29. He spent election day Tuesday in Coquitlam taking NDP supporters to a polling station and making friends with small dogs.
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan stops to pet a dog while bringing voters to a polling station in Coquitlam.
An NDP supporter watches results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Future voter Liam Cawsey, 4, with his dad Ryan Cawsey, outside Simon Fraser ElementaryKim Bolan/PNG
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark at prepares to cast her ballot at poling station in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017. The British Columbians head to the polls today.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark takes a selfie at a poling station after casting her ballot in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017. The British Columbians head to the polls today.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark makes the heart symbol during a stop at her campaign headquarters in West Kelowna, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017. The British Columbian's will go to the polls today.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan stops to pet a dog while bringing voters to a polling station to vote in the provincial election, in Coqutilam, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan, right, walks with voters Ruth and John La-Ballaster after driving them to a polling station to vote in the provincial election, in Coqutilam, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and his wife Ellie kiss while waiting after bringing voters to a polling station to vote in the provincial election, in Coqutilam, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan walks to speak to reporters while bringing voters to a polling station to vote in the provincial election, in Coqutilam, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver arrives with his family to vote on election day at Gordon Head Middle School in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.CHAD HIPOLITO/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver fills out his ballot at Gordon Head Middle School on election day in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.CHAD HIPOLITO/THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER, BC - MAY 9, 2017 - NDP's Bowinn Ma in North Vancouver, B.C., May 9, 2017. (Arlen Redekop / PNG staff photo) (story by Sam Cooper) [PNG Merlin Archive]Arlen Redekop/PNG
NDP candidate Carole James at the home of supporter Marilyn Callahan during a break from door knocking in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. CHAD HIPOLITO/PNG
Despite former TV anchor Steve Darling's high profile in Burnaby, the rookie B.C. Liberal candidate failed to win his riding. The B.C. NDP cleaned up in Burnaby on Tuesday night.
Mark van Manen/PNG
Incumbent North Vancouver-Lonsdale Liberal candidate Naomi Yamamoto shares a laugh with campaign volunteer Max Rubin before polls closed on Tuesday. Arlen Redekop/PNG
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and his wife Ellie watch election results on television at a hotel after the provincial election polls closed, in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark and her son Hamish watch the polls come in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver and other candidate pins in a fishbowl on election night at the Delta Ocean Pointe in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.CHAD HIPOLITO/THE CANADIAN PRESS
BC Liberal party incumbent candidate for Surrey-Fleetwood Peter Fassbender waits for election results to start rolling in at his campaign headquarters in Surrey, BC Tuesday, May 9, 2017.Jason Payne/PNG
Peter Fassbender greets young people at his campaign headquarters in Surrey-Fleetwood on election night.Jason Payne/PNG
B.C. Liberal supporters watch the projected results at a party event in downtown Vancouver on Tuesday.Gerry Kahrmann/PNG
Green party supporters watch as results come in from election night at the Delta Ocean Pointe in Victoria.CHAD HIPOLITO/THE CANADIAN PRESS
NDP supporters are illuminated by orange light while watching results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Liberal supporters applaud at a party event in downtown Vancouver on Tuesday night.Gerry Kahrmann/PNG
NDP supporters watch results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
MLA Melanie Mark of the NDP smiles while watching election results at NDP headquarters with supporters in Vancouver, BC, May, 9, 2017.RICHARD LAM/PNG
Green party supporters watch as results come in from election night at the Delta Ocean Pointe on election night in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.CHAD HIPOLITO/THE CANADIAN PRESS
NDP supporters watch results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
An NDP supporter cheers while watching results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
NDP supporters watch results come in at candidates Lisa Beare and Bob D'Eith's campaign office.Glenda Luymes/PNG
NDP supporters cheer at a party event in Surrey, BC Tuesday, May 9, 2017 after the NDP won the Surrey-Fleetwood riding in the provincial election campaign.Jason Payne/PNG
A NDP supporter reacts as election results are displayed on a screen at BC NDP headquarters in Vancouver on election night.RICHARD LAM/PNG
Norm Letnick, re-elected a MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country speaks to supporters at the Coast capri Hotel as Steve Thomson looks on, Thomson was also re-elected as MLA for Kelowna-Mission on Tuesday evening. GARY NYLANDER/The Daily Courier
B.C. Liberal supporters, including Pamela Martin, watch as the results narrow in the provincial election at party headquarters in downtown Vancouver.Gerry Kahrmann/PNG
Liberal candidate Ian Paton speaks to his supporters at his campaign headquarters after winning in Delta South.Francis Georgian/PNG
Newly elected NDP MLA Jagrup Brar meets his supporters in Surrey after the NDP won the Surrey-Fleetwood riding in the provincial election campaign.Jason Payne/PNG
Newly elected Delta North NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon meets supporters after he won the Delta riding in the provincial election campaign.Jason Payne/PNG
Newly elected NDP MLA Rashna Singh meets supporters in Surrey after her win in the provincial election campaign.Jason Payne/PNG
Newly elected Delta North NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon meets supporters in Surrey after he won the Delta riding in the provincial election campaign.Jason Payne/PNG
Newly elected NDP MLA Jagrup Brar meets his supporters in Surrey after the NDP won the Surrey-Fleetwood riding in the provincial election campaign.Jason Payne/PNG
Newly elected NDP MLA Jagrup Brar meets his supporters in Surrey after the NDP won the Surrey-Fleetwood riding in the provincial election campaign.Jason Payne/PNG
A liberal supporter celebrates at B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark's campaign party in Vancouver, B.C. Tuesday, May 9, 2017.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Big night for the winners: NDP candidates Raj Chouhan, Katrina Chen, Janet Routledge, and Anne Kang all won their respective riding celebrate late in the evening on May 9, 2017 Mark van Manen/PNG
NDP candidate George Chow speaks to reporters at BC NDP headquarters in Vancouver, BC, May, 9, 2017. RICHARD LAM/PNG
B.C. Liberal supporters are tense watching the results come in at their downtown Vancouver headquarters on Election night.Gerry Kahrmann/PNG
B.C. Liberal supporters cheer at their downtown Vancouver party on election night.Gerry Kahrmann/PNG
Supporters at the B.C. Liberal party in downtown Vancouver celebrate a possible 43 seat minority government on election night.Gerry Kahrmann/PNG
An NDP supporter raises his arms in celebration while watching results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
A young girl sleeps as the clock nears midnight as NDP supporters watch results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Liberal supporters watch the vote results come in at B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark's campaign party in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
A liberal supporter watches the vote results come in at B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark's campaign party in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
A liberal supporter watches the vote results come in at B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark's campaign party in Vancouver, B.C. Tuesday, May 9, 2017.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark waves to the crowd following the B.C. Liberal election in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May 10, 2017.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark waves to the crowd following the B.C. Liberal election in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May 10, 2017.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
As per tradition, local media hasn’t printed any polls or predictions on election day, but the New York Times ran a synopsis of the race that covers everything from pipelines to Trump’s influence.
IF YOU’RE SCORING AT HOME …
Innovative Research, a Canadian research and consultation, has created a scorecard of sorts for B.C. Election 2017. As the results roll in, you can check off their key riding cheat sheet:
(Click on chart to enlarge)
LIVE FROM OUR NEWSROOM …
Columnists Gord Clark and columnist Daphne Bramham discuss B.C. election 2017 on Facebook Live.
We’ll be live all night as the B.C. election comes down to the final tallies. Watch this space for updated photos as the candidates and their supporters celebrate their wins, or grovel in their losses.
Early voting started on April 29, but the leaders waited until the official election day to cast their votes.
Christy Clark, despite running in West Kelowna, voted near her home in the Dunbar neighbourhood of Vancouver.
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark takes a selfie at a poling station after casting her ballot.
Later, Clark was in West Kelowna, helping volunteers to get out the vote.
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark shares a laugh with a campaign worker as they make phone calls from her campaign headquarters in West Kelowna on Tuesday.
The NDP’s John Horgan is running in the constituency of Juan de Fuca but was spotted escorting voters in Coquitlam.
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan, right, walks with voters Ruth and John La-Ballaster after driving them to a polling station to vote in the provincial election, in Coqutilam.
He also shared a kiss with his wife along the way.
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and his wife Ellie kiss while waiting after bringing voters to a polling station to vote in the provincial election in Coqutilam.
The Greens’ Andrew Weaver is the incumbent in Oak Bay-Gordon Head. He voted this morning at a local middle school.
B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver arrives with his family to vote on election day at Gordon Head Middle School in Victoria.
He went to the voting place with his family.
B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver arrives with his family to vote on election day at Gordon Head Middle School in Victoria.
Popular former Global BC TV host Steve Darling is running for the B.C. Liberals in Burnaby North. He was out meeting voters and their families during the afternoon.
Steve Darling catches up with with 8 month old Henry in North Burnaby on Tuesday.
Darling had former colleague, now B.C. Liberals staffer, Pamela Martin along for help.
Darling wasn’t the only candidate out and about in the fine afternoon weather. The NDP’s Bowinn Ma was out with supporters too.
NDP candidate Bowinn Ma, running in North Vancouver-Lonsdale, and volunteers wave at passing drivers.
In Victoria, former NDP leader Carloe James checked in with a supporter.
NDP candidate Carole James at the home of supporter Marilyn Callahan during a break from door knocking in Victoria on Tuesday.
In North Vancouver, Naomi Yamamoto was looking confident at her headquarters as she called voters.
Incumbent North Vancouver-Lonsdale Liberal candidate Naomi Yamamoto shares a laugh with campaign volunteer Max Rubin before polls closed on Tuesday.
Volunteers were working hard to find voters who might help turn the tide.
NDP volunteers Zelik Segal, left, and Deanna Ogle look over lists of supporters while trying to ensure they all vote in the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview.
And there were plenty of voters out with their kids.
Future voter Liam Cawsey, 4, with his dad Ryan Cawsey, outside Simon Fraser Elementary.
Barbara and Patrick Zulinov with Jimmi Tweed in Vancouver-Fairview voted at General Wolfe Elementary
Andrew Weaver and his Greens team are hosting an event in Victoria.
B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver and other candidate pins in a fishbowl on election night at the Delta Ocean Pointe in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.
Meanwhile, the leaders settled in with family to watch the returns.
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and his wife Ellie watch election results on television at a hotel after the provincial election polls closed, in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark and her son Hamish watch the election returns come in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017.
Peter Fassbender, who has filled a number of key posts for Christy Clark, was looking pretty confident in his headquarters on election night.
BC Liberal party incumbent candidate for Surrey-Fleetwood Peter Fassbender waits for election results to start rolling in at his campaign headquarters in Surrey.
Peter Fassbender greets youth at his campaign headquarters on election night in Surrey.
Inside Liberal candidate Suzanne Anton’s HQ at Fraserview Golf Course in Vancouver.
Coquitlam-Burke Mountain NDP candidate Jodie Wickens in action at her campaign office on election day in Coquitlam.
NDP supporters are illuminated by orange light while watching results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver.
An NDP supporter watches results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver.
Green party supporters watch as results come in from election night at the Delta Ocean Pointe in Victoria.
Supporter Scott Lecy shows off his t-shirt at the at B.C. Liberal party headquarters in downtown Vancouver after the polls closed for the provincial election.
Despite early enthusiasm in all camps, as the clock approached 10 p.m. the mood seemed to be quiet at the B.C. Liberals’ headquarters, while supporters at the NDP event seemed hopeful as the returns continued to show strong numbers for the NDP.
NDP supporters watch results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.
An NDP supporter cheers while watching results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.
NDP supporters watch results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday May 9, 2017.
MLA Melanie Mark of the NDP smiles while watching election results at NDP headquarters with supporters in Vancouver, BC, May, 9, 2017.
And in Victoria, it looked a strong chance the Greens will hold the balance of power.
Green party supporters watch as results come in from election night at the Delta Ocean Pointe on election night in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.
The B.C. Liberals have held their ridings in the interior and in the north, but are struggling in the Lower Mainland.
Norm Letnick, re-elected a MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country speaks to supporters at the Coast Capri Hotel as Steve Thomson looks on, Thomson was also re-elected as MLA for Kelowna-Mission on Tuesday evening.
Ian Paton was the winner in Delta South, as the B.C. Liberals also did well in the southwestern part of the Lower Mainland.
Liberal candidate Ian Paton addresses the crowd at his campaign headquarters in Delta.
But in the City of Vancouver, it was a bad scene for the incumbent party. Suzanne Anton was one of several MLAs to lose her seat.
Liberal candidate Suzanne Anton at her HQ in at Fraserview Golf Course in Vancouver.
At NDP headquarters, the crowd continued to jubilate in the promising results.
A NDP supporter reacts as election results are displayed on a screen on election night.
At the end of the night, it looked like a B.C. Liberal minority government – though absentee ballots in the the Courtenay-Comox consituency could swing the nine-vote NDP victory. If that seat flipped to the B.C. Liberals, it would create a razor-thin 44-seat majority government position for Christy Clark’s party.
NDP candidate George Chow speaks to reporters at BC NDP headquarters in Vancouver, BC, May, 9, 2017.
B.C. Liberal supporters are tense watching the results come in at their downtown Vancouver headquarters on Election night.
Supporters at the B.C. Liberal party in downtown Vancouver celebrate a possible 43 seat minority government on election night.
B.C. Liberal supporters cheer at their downtown Vancouver party on election night.
Liberal candidate Steve Darling, who ran in the riding of Burnaby-Lougheed, is greeted by supporters. The former Global TV host lost in Burnaby-Lougheed.
B.C. Green party candidate Mark Neufeld poses for a photo during election night at the Delta Ocean Pointe on election night in Victoria.
Green party supporter Margo Landry-Anderson watches as results come in from election night at the Delta Ocean Pointe on election night in Victoria.
A young girl sleeps as the clock nears midnight as NDP supporters watch results at NDP election night headquarters in Vancouver.
An NDP supporter raises his arms in celebration while watching results at his party’s election night headquarters in Vancouver.
Newly elected NDP MLA Jagrup Brar meets his supporters in Surrey after the NDP won the Surrey-Fleetwood riding in the provincial election campaign.
Newly elected NDP MLA Rashna Singh meets supporters in Surrey after her win in the provincial election campaign.
Newly elected Delta North NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon meets supporters in Surrey after he won the Delta riding in the provincial election campaign.
Newly elected NDP MLA Jagrup Brar meets his supporters in Surrey after the NDP won the Surrey-Fleetwood riding in the provincial election campaign.
Newly elected Delta North NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon meets supporters after he won the Delta riding in the provincial election campaign.
Liberal supporters watch the vote results come in at B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark’s campaign party in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017.
A liberal supporter watches the vote results come in at B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark’s campaign party in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 9, 2017.
A liberal supporter watches the vote results come in at B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark’s campaign party in Vancouver, B.C. Tuesday, May 9, 2017.
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark waves to the crowd following the B.C. Liberal election in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May 10, 2017.
B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark waves to the crowd following the B.C. Liberal election in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May 10, 2017.
Investigators say the grounding of two barges near Victoria last year was caused by inadequate towing equipment and poor risk management.
The Transportation Safety Board has released a report into the grounding of the HM Tacoma and HM Blue Horizon in March 2016, saying the barges were being towed in tandem when the vessel hit stormy weather.
The report says a tow line between the barges snapped, then got caught in the tug’s propeller resulting in both the Tacoma and Blue Horizon running aground.
Investigators found the first barge was able to break away because of inadequate towing equipment, including short, degraded ropes of different diameter, length and material.
They also found the company responsible for the vessels had not assessed the risk associated with its tug and barge operations.
The report says all companies operating marine vessels should be required to have a formal safety management process, overseen by Transport Canada.
It also says the incident could be repeated if Transport Canada doesn’t provide vessel owners and operators with standards and guidance on towing equipment.
If a major earthquake hits the Lower Mainland area and cuts off essential services, South Delta will be left without an emergency water supply.
The Corporation of Delta is looking to change that, and has put out a request for proposals to complete a feasibility study for a groundwater well in Diefenbaker Park in Tsawwassen.
Delta, which receives its drinking water from Metro Vancouver, already owns and operates three groundwater wells near Watershed Park in North Delta. The wells provide about three per cent of the total water distributed in Delta, and have the ability to serve as sources of emergency water.
There is no such emergency water supply in South Delta, and the goal of the project is to establish a source in Tsawwassen.
The consultant will be responsible for assessing the aquifer capabilities and determining a suitable well location.
According to a timeline in the request for proposal documents, the municipality plans to have a contract signed by mid June. A preliminary report should be delivered by September, which will be reviewed by Delta staff. A final report will be prepared by November, and the project will be wrapped up in January 2018.
Delta Mayor Lois Jackson was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
In terms of Metro Vancouver’s water delivery capabilities in the event of an earthquake, utilities committee chair Darrell Mussatto said that the regional district has been actively assessing and upgrading the water system since the mid-1990s.
For instance, two dams, a new water filtration plant and the upgraded Port Mann water supply tunnel have been updated to withstand a major seismic event.
“We are working with all municipalities to make sure we can get water to their delivery systems, even if there is an earthquake,” Mussatto, who is also mayor of the City of North Vancouver, said.
Metro is also looking at more locations for bulk water storage, which would help with firefighting during a major incident.
The Vancouver park board will vote Monday on an bylaw amendment to ban the display of cetaceans at the Vancouver Aquarium.
The proposed amendments would ban any new cetacean being brought to the aquarium, put on display there, or included in a show or performance. The only exceptions would be the three cetaceans already in the aquarium’s care: Helen, a Pacific white-sided dolphin; Daisy, a harbour porpoise; and Chester, a false killer whale. All three were rehabilitated from injuries but are not able to survive in the wild, according to federal experts.
They could continue to be on display for life. However, the amendment would ban them from being used in shows or performances.
The aquarium is in Stanley Park and thus under the park board’s jurisdiction.
The wording of the proposed bylaw, released on Tuesday, comes after two nights of public hearings and discussion in early March. A total of 44 speakers expressed varying degrees of support, before the board voted unanimously to have staff begin work on the bylaw.
Currently, no cetaceans — which includes baleen whales, narwhals, dolphins, porpoises, killer whales and beluga whales — are allowed to be brought into the park aside from those that were caught from the wild before September 1996 or that were born in captivity.
But the current bylaw make exceptions for endangered species with permission from the park board, or an animal that has been injured and requires rehabilitation and care, regardless of whether it can be released back into the wild.
Vancouver Aquarium president and CEO John Nightingale argued the proposed changes would hinder the aquarium’s rescue efforts, calling the park board’s actions “incomprehensible.”
“We are devastated that the park board would turn its back on vulnerable cetaceans at a time when they need our help the most,” he wrote in an emailed statement.
“Whether it’s helping a stranded false killer whale or a baby porpoise that was separated from its mother, the humane thing to do is to rescue and care for these helpless animals.”
Nightingale expressed concern that without a home for rehabilitated animals that cannot be released into the wild, the DFO might opt to euthanize injured animals instead of allowing the Aquarium’s rescue team to intervene.
Requests for an interview left with park board chair Michael Wiebe were not returned by deadline. The park board will meet Monday evening to discuss and vote on the amended bylaw.
The United Nations gang had a suspect in the Kevin LeClair murder killed in Mexico because they were worried he might turn on them, B.C. Supreme Court heard Wednesday.
Jesse “Egon” Adkins was hiding in Mexico, along with accused killer Cory Vallee, when he started getting restless and wanting to come home, former UN gangster C testified.
“I believe he wanted to come home and see his kid,” said C, whose identity is protected by a sweeping publication ban.
Earlier C told Justice Janice Dillon that he, Adkins and another UN member were driving with Barzan Tilli-Choli when Tilli-Choli blasted a Porsche owned by the Bacon brothers on May 9, 2008.
Jonathan Barber, a stereo installer who had just picked up the Porsche, was killed instantly.
And C testified that Adkins and Vallee confessed to him that they were the hit men that gunned down LeClair, a Bacon associate, in a Langley plaza on Feb. 6, 2009.
Vallee is charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacons, as well as first-degree murder in the LeClair shooting.
C said Adkins and Vallee were smuggled into Mexico through a Los Angeles cartel contact of Khamla Wong, a respected UN gang elder now in jail in Thailand.
But after several months, Adkins was getting edgy and making derogatory comments about the UN, C said.
He testified that he tried to tell Adkins to stay put.
“I told him — it’s not a smart idea. Give it some time. Maybe in the future after the UN 8 case is done, we’ll see what happens with that and then assess from there,” C said.
“I told him the smartest thing to do is to stay there.”
But there was concern that Adkins’ instability could lead to him flipping on the gang, C said.
“Kham discussed it with the Mexicans that Jesse might be a problem and the Mexicans said that they’re going to take care of it,” C said.
He said he understood that to mean “that Jesse would get killed.”
Asked by prosecutor Helen James how he felt about Adkins’ murder, C said:
“I had mixed emotions about it. I liked Jesse but at the same time, the way he was acting — he was seriously saying the words he was saying like `f— the crew’ and `I am coming back no matter what,’ it seemed worrisome that he may have turned into a rat,” C said.
He said he later learned from both Vallee, who was still in Mexico, and Wong that Adkins was “killed in Mexico by the Mexican cartel people.”
Adkins’ body has never been found.
After Adkins was killed, C got even closer to Vallee communicating through encrypted BlackBerry messages.
“We would talk all the time, multiple times in a week, sometimes every day. We would talk about family, kids, what we’re up to, business,” C testified.
When Vallee was arrested in Mexico in 2014 and brought back to Canada, C put money in his canteen account at the pre-trial jail every month until last summer, he testified.
The money came from a senior UN member named Versace, who has continued to provide the cash for a number of gangsters awaiting trial or convicted.
C said the UN wanted “to take care of the guys in prison so they stay happy.”
“Unhappy people tend to turn,” he said.
C said he and other UN members were increasingly broke, having trouble making drug deals and getting less support from senior members like Versace who were out of the country.
That’s one reason he decided to cooperate with police last year after getting caught with 80,000 fentanyl pills and a gun.
“I wanted out of the life. I was sick of it,” he said.
He said he signed a deal with the RCMP to get paid $400,000 to work as an agent in two investigations. He has received about half the money so far.
The money is not in exchange for his testimony against his former friend, C said.
But he testified that he did sign a separate immunity agreement meaning he won’t face charges for a litany of crimes committed while in the UN, as long as he testifies truthfully.
