How the story of the federal election played out in 5 B.C. ridings
Chad Pawson | CBC News | Posted: April 29, 2025 8:18 AM | Last Updated: April 29
Liberals break through on Vancouver Island, stronghold NDP seats fall, Conservatives close to interior sweep
The projected results of the federal election show a shake-up in British Columbia, where the national theme of the 2025 race — a two-party showdown between the Liberals and Conservatives — played out in several regions in the province.
Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke and Victoria
On Vancouver Island — where the NDP held six seats — Liberal candidates captured the ridings of Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke and Victoria, where the last Liberals elected were in 2008 and 2004, respectively.
In the former riding, Liberal Stephanie McLean, a local lawyer and former Alberta NDP MLA, defeated the Conservatives' Grant Cool and the NDP's Maja Tait with 47 per cent of the vote. Randall Garrison had held the seat for the NDP since 2011, but did not run again in this election.
In Victoria, Liberal Will Greaves, an associate professor at the University of Victoria who researches climate change, security, and Arctic politics defeated NDP incumbent Laurel Collins with 51 per cent of the vote.
The two Liberal Vancouver Island seats make up the 168 national seats the Liberals were projected to win on the party's way to a fourth mandate, as of 1 a.m. PT Tuesday.
New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville
The loss of five seats on Vancouver Island were part of the NDP's collapse in the polls, which saw it reduced from 24 seats nationally to leading or elected in seven.
The NDP seat count in B.C. went from 13 seats to leading or elected in three. Leader Jagmeet Singh lost his Burnaby Central riding and resigned as leader on election night.
Also emblematic of the NDP's problems this election was a tough race for Peter Julian, who had represented the Burnaby-New Westminster riding since 2004.
In this election, in the New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville riding, he trailed the Conservatives' Indy Panchi, the founder of a free meal kitchen, and the Liberals' Jake Sawatzky, a master's student in counselling psychology at Trinity Western University in Langley.
Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay
The NDP's collapse in B.C. resulted in Conservative gains in the Southern Interior.
Leading the charge there was Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay candidate Helena Konanz, a former world-ranked professional tennis player, who defeated the NDP's Linda Sankey and the Liberals' Gloria Morgan with 44 per cent of the vote. The riding had previously been held by the NDP's Richard Cannings, who did not seek re-election, and his party dropped to third in the region.
The Interior is poised to go entirely or nearly entirely blue, pending the outcome of a close race in Kelowna, which had the Liberals' Stephen Fuhr holding a slim lead over incumbent Conservative Tracy Gray as of 10:30 a.m. PT Tuesday.
The Conservatives were leading or elected for 19 seats in B.C., a net gain of four seats, while the Liberals were leading or elected in 20 ridings for a net gain of six.
The NDP was poised to lose 10 seats in B.C.
Skeena-Bulkley Valley
One of the most dramatic losses for the NDP in B.C. was poised to be in the geographically giant riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley in the province's northwest corner.
The NDP has held the riding since it was created in its current form in 2004, most notably by Nathan Cullen for five terms.
In 2019 Taylor Bachrach took over the riding for the NDP from Cullen, but this election is trailing the Conservatives' Ellis Ross.
Ross, a former Haisla Nation councillor and chief councillor, was elected as the MLA for Skeena in 2017 and is supportive of mining, forestry and LNG development.
He was hand-picked by the Conservatives this campaign to help advocate for resource development in the region.
With polls still reporting Ross was holding 47 per cent of the vote over 39 per cent for Bachrach.
Corrections:- An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to NDP candidate Linda Sankey as the incumbent for the riding of Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay. In fact, the riding was previously held by the NDP's Richard Cannings, who did not run for re-election. April 29, 2025 5:33 PM
- An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to NDP candidate Maja Tait as the incumbent for the riding of Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke. In fact, the riding was previously held by the NDP's Randall Garrison, who did not run for re-election. April 29, 2025 5:50 PM