British Columbia’s official vote tally from the provincial election was announced earlier this week. Incumbent NDP MLA Nicholas Simons was elected to a fifth term in Powell River-Sunshine Coast with 50.88 per cent of the vote.
According to the Elections BC website, 24,961 votes were cast, with Simons picking up 12,701. In second place, with 8,104 votes, or 32.47 per cent, was BC Green candidate Kim Darwin. Sandra Stoddart-Hansen, from the BC Liberals, received 4,156 votes, for 16.65 per cent of the total.
Simons said in terms of his popular vote, the 50 per cent threshold means something to him.
“It shows my level of support remains fairly consistent,” said Simons. “I was pleased to see that.”
Simons said at first, people were perhaps not expecting the election that was called early, but when people made the choice, they showed up in high numbers. He said he thinks the Sunshine Coast once again is in the top 10 of voter turnout and he was also pleased to see that.
“The participation in the process was robust,” said Simons.
He said the province now has an opportunity to make important decisions with a legislature made up of people who are intending to be there for four years and prepared to make some long-term plans and policies that will serve the province well in terms of stability.
In terms of objectives going into the new mandate, Simons said there is broad focus in making sure communities remain as strong as they can in the face of the health crises.
“That will be a focal point for government, but at the same time, we want to make sure that our families and businesses are supported and that we look after the other important infrastructure, programs and services,” said Simons. “These include child care, extended care and long-term care, and making sure our transportation system meets the needs of our communities. Every community on the Sunshine Coast has its own particular concerns.
“My expectation is I’ll be hearing from people and helping advocate for them on issues of concern to them.”
Simons said this will be the first time he has been elected into a majority government and being his fifth election, it’s a nice, new opportunity.
“I look forward to it,” said Simons.
He said moving forward, he likes to have influence on government policy and however the premier decides to ensure that happens is what he’s looking forward to doing.
He added that both Darwin and Stoddart-Hansen did a good job of representing the diverse voices in the community and he thanks them for their participation.
Darwin said considering the circumstances of the election, her Green team did really well.
She said highlights of the campaign were when people would come up to her and thank her for running, because they didn’t have anyone to vote for otherwise.
“Initially, I wasn’t going to run and I was going to sit this election out,” said Darwin. “It was the positive messages from people who said they supported me and they were going to have a hard time filling out a ballot if I didn’t run.”
Darwin said it was a three-week campaign, the province is in the middle of a pandemic, and it was a rushed campaign.
“It honestly is a tribute to my entire team,” said Darwin.
She said she thinks there is still a long way to go in Powell River, and while she hasn’t got all of the polling data, she thinks that likely her support was weighted more heavily on the lower coast.
Darwin said she sat in on the absentee and mail-in ballot count with some scrutineers. She said she felt it was important to honour the 7,004 voters who chose to cast their ballots in those different ways.
“I made it a point to not really talk about the election results until we knew all of the numbers because I wanted to honour all of the voters and all of the ballots,” said Darwin.
Darwin said she thinks she received the fourth highest vote count in all of BC of a person who did not get elected.
“What that means is if we had proportional representation, if the referendum had succeeded in 2018, Powell River-Sunshine Coast would be sending both Nicholas Simons and me to Victoria,” said Darwin. “We would have had double the representation.”
Darwin said she was grateful and honoured by all votes cast for by people who chose her to be their voice in Victoria.
She said she wanted to offer her congratulations to Simons on his fifth term as MLA.
While she’s not saying for sure, Darwin said there is a likelihood she will run again for the Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA position.
