New B.C. Liberal leader to run in Vancouver–Quilchena byelection

B.C. Premier John Horgan announced a byelection in the riding of Vancouver-Quilchena for April 30. 

New B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon will run in the byelection after former Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson resigned from the legislature in February.

The riding on Vancouver's west side has voted Liberal in every provincial election since 1991. Wilkinson easily won re-election in the 2020 election with 56 per cent of the vote, but his party lost 13 seats in the election that saw Horgan's New Democrats re-elected with a majority, winning 58 seats to 28 for the Liberals and two Greens.

In a statement, Falcon said winning the seat is the first step in the party's push to get elected as government again.

"I will work hard every day to earn the support of Vancouver-Quilchena residents so that I can hold the NDP to account and make sure that we get big things done in British Columbia again," he said in the statement.

Falcon held a seat in Surrey for three terms beginning in 2001 before deciding not to run in the 2013 election. He said he left politics to spend more time with his family. He has been working in the private sector with a Vancouver investment and property development firm.

Jeanette Ashe is the candidate for the B.C. New Democrats.

She is chair of the political science department at Douglas College and has worked to increase diversity in government by helping women get elected to public office.

Born and raised in North Vancouver, she was out in the riding on Saturday to meet people.

"Being out there today, it was really positive energy, people were interested in what the B.C. NDP has been doing to make things more affordable," she said.

Ashe is also the wife of Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart.

The B.C. Green Party announced on Thursday that emergency management expert Wendy Hayko would be their candidate in the byelection.

"I will push the provincial government to take effective action on the many issues facing British Columbians today," she said in a statement from the party.

"As an emergency management expert, I've seen firsthand how the provincial government underestimates the risks and impacts of crises, leading to devastating results."

Candidate nominations close on April 9 at 1 p.m. PT. Voter registration ends on April 20 at midnight and advance polls open from April 22 to 27. 

Elections B.C. says in a news release that this will be the first byelection in the province since changes to the Election Act came into force last month, which it says will make voting easier and will allow the agency to report election night results faster.

The changes include using electronic tabulators to count paper ballots and electronic voting books to look up voters and cross them off the voters list.

B.C.'s next election is set for October 2024.