Susie Chant wins North Vancouver-Seymour to earn second term as MLA

North Vancouver-Seymour has been won by BC NDP incumbent Susie Chant.

According to preliminary results, Chant received 15,641 votes, 52.6 per cent overall.

BC Conservative challenger Sam Chandola finished with 10,676 votes, or 35.9 per cent.

Independent candidate Mitchell Baker, who ran on a centrist platform, won 5.8 per cent of the vote, while the Green Party's Subhadarshi Tripathy, who did not actively campaign at all, had 5.6 per cent. 

Following the end of the campaign, Chant expressed relief and gratitude, saying she’d like to give her constituents “a big hug.”

“I've been very fortunate. I have moved along at a steady pace and I've got lots left to give,” she said.

Chant was quick to credit her campaign team with the win.

“We've got lots of people downstairs that did a lot of work. The ground game was really, really effective. People were out every day – lots and lots of people – getting out the vote, talking to people, encouraging people to think about what it meant to have an NDP government, and so here we are.”

In 2020, Chant upset former BC Liberal MLA Jane Thornthwaite, winning the seat for the NDP for the first time, with 46.8 per cent of the vote. The fact that she increased her share of the vote locally in 2024 at a time when the NDP’s popularity fell provincewide probably had something to do with the amount of face time she put in with constituents in her first term, she said.

“I talked to a lot of people,” she said. “I think people recognize that I am all about people and the NDP, we're all about making it better for people writ large, not just particular populations.”

As of about 10 p.m., the NDP had won 46 seats in the legislature – one short of a majority – while the Conservatives had 45 and the Green Party, two. Chant said it was too early to say how the balance of power might look when the next session of the legislature begins.

“It just means that we've got lots of work to do, and we'll figure out how to get that done once we know who all the players are,” she said.

BC Conservatives react

As the final result of the North Vancouver-Seymour race was becoming apparent, Chandola said he believed it was going to be a much closer race.

“Obviously we're a bit disappointed,” he said. “I don't feel that bad because I don't think we could have done anything better in terms of how we ran this campaign.”

The Conservatives have a “demographic challenge” in North Vancouver-Seymour now, he added, saying he believes people were motivated more by the NDP brand than by the individual candidates. But, he said, his party’s showing across B.C. bodes well for conservatism in the province more broadly.

“I think the party has done a tremendous job just going from where it was to where it has come. Does it still need to roughen our edges a little bit and cross the t's and dot the i's? Yes, and I think that's a good lesson for us to learn as we look for the next four years.”

Chandola said Chant should take note of the Conservative Party's substantial standing in the province and feel free to poach some their ideas.

“I hope that she takes some of the points that we had raised in our debates and our messaging and helps the community, specifically with the traffic and the bridge proposal that we had. I think everybody in the community benefits, regardless of whether it's an NDP government or a Conservative government that brings that to the North Shore,” he said.

Chant praised Chandola’s campaign and pledged to represent his supporters equally as well as her own.

“When I'm an MLA, I represent everybody, and I am more than happy to hear their concerns, and I'm more than happy to lobby, represent and advocate on their behalf as well. It’s my job,” she said.