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Heavyweight B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson reclaimed his seat in North Vancouver Monday night.
Wilkinson cruised to victory with 23,562 votes - almost 45 per cent of the vote - compared to the Conservatives’ 14,893 votes representing 28 per cent.
The NDP’s Tammy Benz received 10,530 votes (20 per cent of the popular vote in the riding), the Green Party’s Archie Kaario received 2,356 (about five per cent) and John Galloway of the People’s Party received 1,424 (just under three per cent).
Wilkinson told supporters who gathered at The Wallace in the North Vancouver Shipyards district that the re-election of a Liberal minority is “a very good night for Canada” and for “the world.”
Wilkinson said the election result allows Canada to move forward on “the two greatest challenges of our era” - climate change and loss of biodiversity.
“Ultimately, I would say to you this victory is this really a victory for those who believe that creating a better world is possible. And it's desirable. People who believe that social justice and environmental sustainability are just as important as economic prosperity,” he said.
Wilkinson said climate change played a big role in the Liberal re-election, as did the government’s handling of the pandemic.
“Certainly, the pandemic, I think, was on a lot of voters' minds when they went into polling booths, in terms of how do we actually get through this? How do we move forward in a manner that is protective of the community, and protective of our children who presently can't be vaccinated? And to do so in a thoughtful way.”
In an interview, Wilkinson said although the election did not give the Liberals a majority government, it gave the government a “reset” on its mandate.
“One of the messages that I think Canadians are sending is they want all of the political parties to try to figure out how to work together for a longer period of time,” he said.
Earlier in the evening, former Liberal MP Don Bell was among party supporters watching the results roll in.
“I think there will be a consensus that nothing significant changed,” he said.
He said the results indicate some voters are frustrated, “but they weren’t frustrated enough to want to change. I think they've been pretty happy with the federal government's response to the pandemic. And I think that's the underlying thing.”
Conservative Les Jickling was not available for comment but emailed a statement saying he was proud of the “positive campaign” run by supporters. “It wasn’t the outcome we wanted but we ran a good honest campaign,” he said.
Gerald Baier, a North Vancouver resident and professor of political science at UBC, said the re-election of Wilkinson points to the moderate nature of North Vancouver voters. "It's not what it used to be in terms of some of the support for the Conservatives, like it's been in the past," he said. "You have a lot of demographic change in the last couple of decades. And I think that's sort of demonstrated itself quite forcefully now."
“(Wilkinson's) been at the cabinet table. He's been reliable for the prime minister. I think people don't mind seeing that reflected in their representation either."
Approximately 7,200 mail-in ballots were yet to be counted Tuesday morning, but weren’t expected to change the outcome.
10:30 p.m.
Heavyweight B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson reclaimed his seat in North Vancouver Monday night.
Wilkinson cruised to victory with 45 per cent of the vote compared to the Conservatives’ 29 per cent, with 94 per cent of the polls reporting.
Wilkinson told supporters who gathered at The Wallace in the North Vancouver Shipyards district that the re-election of a Liberal minority is “a very good night for Canada” and for “the world.”
Wilkinson said the election result will allow Canada to move forward and address “the two greatest challenges of our era” - climate change and loss of biodiversity.
“Creating a better world is possible, and it’s desirable,” he said.
Wilkinson said climate change played a big role in the Liberal re-election, as did the government’s handling of the pandemic.
“Certainly, the pandemic, I think, was on a lot of voters' minds when they went into polling booths, in terms of how do we actually get through this? How do we move forward in a manner that is protective of the community, and protective of our children who presently can't be vaccinated? And to do so in a thoughtful way.”
In an interview, Wilkinson said although the election did not give the Liberals a majority government, it gave the government a “reset” on its mandate.
“One of the messages that I think Canadians are sending is they want all of the political parties to try to figure out how to work together for a longer period of time,” he said.
Earlier in the evening, former Liberal MP Don Bell was among those watching the results roll in.
“I think there will be a consensus that nothing significant changed,” he said.
The election call was “a calculated guess” he said, adding factors like the fourth wave of the pandemic and the rise of anti-vaxxer protests changed feelings of some voters since then.
A pandemic election was awkward, said Bell.
He said the results indicate some voters are frustrated, “but they weren’t frustrated enough to want to change. I think they've been pretty happy with the federal government's response to the pandemic. And I think that's the underlying thing.”
Earlier in the evening, the mood was subdued at North Vancouver’s Streetcar Brewing where Conservative Les Jickling watched early results with a small group of supporters. Jickling could not immediately be reached by the News after results came in.
Gerald Baier, a North Vancouver resident and professor of political science at UBC, said the re-election of Wilkinson points to the moderate nature of North Vancouver voters. "It's not what it used to be in terms of some of the support for the Conservatives, like it's been in the past," he said. "You have a lot of demographic change in the last couple of decades. And I think that's sort of demonstrated itself quite forcefully now."
"It's not a super progressive, but (Wilkinson's) been at the cabinet table. He's been, I think, reliable for the prime minister. I think people don't mind seeing that reflected in their representation either."
9:30 p.m.
With 92 of 215 polls reporting, Wilkinson continues to lead, 46 per cent to the Conservatives' 28 per cent.
Wilkinson is getting ready to speak to supporters.
9:20 p.m.
With 85 of 215 polls reporting, the Liberal Environment Minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, appears poised to recapture his seat in North Vancouver with 46 per cent of the vote to the Conservatives’ 28 per cent.
That result is strikingly similar to result of the last election in North Vancouver.
At the Liberal election night party in North Vancouver, former Liberal MP Don Bell is among those watching the results roll in.
“I think there will be a consensus that significant changed,” he said.
The election call was “a calculated guess, based on what they viewed was the situation a month ago or two months ago,” he said. “And there have been a number of factors that have happened since then.”
Bell pointed to the fourth wave of the pandemic, the “rise of the anti-vaxxers” and even the way the war in Afghanistan ended as possible reasons for fluctuating Liberal support.
A pandemic election has been frustrating, said Bell, “because you're not able to get out and have the kind of contact (you want) either as a politician or the team. . . So I think it was a very awkward.”
Bell said he sees that some people were frustrated, “but they weren’t frustrated enough to want to change. I think they've been pretty happy with the federal government's response to the pandemic. And I think that's the underlying thing.”
8:30 p.m.
With 20 of 215 polls reporting, the Liberals' Wilkinson is leading with 46 per cent of the vote to Jickling's 30 per cent. At the Liberal election night party at The Wallace, there's a palpable buzz in the room as their party appears poised to return to a minority government.
Wilkinson says he's pleased with the results so far. "It was a hard fought election," he said. "It means that we're going back to Ottawa as the government of Canada."
It's too early to know the results in North Vancouver, he says. "But I'm feeling pretty good."
Wilkinson adds there are some ridings int B.C. "that will be so close that we're going to have to wait to see what the mail in ballots look like. So it may be that for many B.C. ridings, we're going to have to wait untill tomorrow to figure out who won."
8 p.m.
The mood is subdued so far at Streetcar Brewing in North Vancouver where Conservative Les Jickling is watching early results with supporters. Campaign supporters point to Conservative gains in Atlantic Canada but say it's too early to make predictions.
Supporters say they're buoyed by the fact "North Vancouver is on the radar."
"We're hoping to have a blue sweep," says one.
As campaign workers trickle in, the mood deflates as one TV decision desk calls the election a Liberal minority.
But it will be a while before results are known for the North Van riding. Very early results have the Liberals' Wilkinson in the lead.
7 p.m.
After an election in which climate change proved one of the central issues among B.C. voters, eyes will be turned tonight to the North Vancouver riding, where Liberal environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson is hoping to hold on to his seat.
Challenging Wilkinson in the riding is Conservative Les Jickling, a health-care consultant and first-time federal candidate who has been active in the Conservative party. Also challenging Wilkinson is NDP candidate Tammy Bentz, Green candidate Archie Kaario and People’s Party candidate John Galloway.
The North Vancouver riding is one of three seats in play on the North Shore, being watched carefully by both pundits and politicians.
The North Vancouver seat has swung between Liberals and Tories in the past.
North Shore seats are crucial, said Greg Lyle, president of Innovative Research polling.
“If you look at the pattern of the last 20 years, you just do not form government if you do not have a North Shore seat," he said.
North Vancouver voters also chose to cast their ballots by mail in some of the highest numbers in the country in this election, according to Elections Canada.
A total of 8,585 mail-in ballots were requested in the riding, according to Elections Canada. Those ballots won’t be counted until Tuesday. There are 89,400 eligible voters in the riding, so mail-in ballots could account for almost 10 per cent of the total.
(If it’s any indication, however, in the provincial election, the North Vancouver mail-in ballots followed a similar pattern to the ballots counted on election night.)
The riding’s history
The riding has swung back and forth between the Liberals and Conservatives for over three decades. The riding was a Conservative stronghold from the 1980s up until 2004 when Liberal Don Bell was elected. In 2008, Conservative Andrew Saxton took the seat back for the Conservatives. In 2015, Wilkinson rode the Liberal wave to victory, hanging on retaining his seat in 2019. Wilkinson saw his share of the vote dip from 57 per cent to 43 per cent in the last election, but still held the seat by a comfortable margin to the Conservatives’ 27 per cent of the popular vote.
The NDP received 16 per cent of the vote in 2019 in North Vancouver while the Green Party received 12 per cent.
