Incumbent MLA Scott Fraser’s reign of the Mid-Island continues as the BC NDP candidate won convincingly in the newly-formed Mid Island-Pacific Rim riding.
And because of the results at the provincial level, Fraser has come the closest he’s ever been to a government seat.
For the past 12 years Scott has been a bridesmaid at the election head table: always in opposition as the BC Liberals have held power in British Columbia since NDP leader Ujjal Dosanjh was ousted in June 2001 by Gordon Campbell.
With Tuesday night’s results looking like a minority government for the Liberals (a handful of ridings were too close to call by press time), Fraser’s words and actions in the legislature in the coming years could hold more sway than they usually do.
Whatever the final provincial outcome, Fraser has received the nod in a convincing manner from his new riding. Now it’s up to him to decide how he is going to repay his voters.
(An interesting fact: voter turnout is apparently under 55 percent. The Courtenay-Comox riding was decided by nine votes—which could change once absentee ballots and a final count are done after the May long weekend. For those who say their votes don’t count, you couldn’t be more wrong.)
While Fraser won, there were five other candidates that ran in the election who deserve praise for putting their collective necks on the political line, no matter if you voted for them or not: Darren DeLuca for the BC Liberals, Alicia La Rue for the Green Party, Julian Fell for the BC Conservatives, Rob Clarke for the Libertarian Party and Dan Cebuliak for the BC ReFederation Party.
— Alberni Valley News