B.C. ridings hang in the balance until afternoon after election day

More than a handful of ridings in British Columbia were still too close to call until Tuesday afternoon.

Before 1 p.m., results were still to be determined in Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, Fleetwood-Port Kells, New Westminster-Burnaby-Mallairdville, Surrey-Newton, and Vancouver Kingsway.

Vancouver Kingsway has been an NDP stronghold since 2008. Incumbent Don Davies fought a wave of declining national enthusiasm for the New Democrats, with support gathering under Liberal candidate Amy Gill.

According to preliminary results, Davies officially won out Tuesday, with 37.2 per cent of the vote — or 310 votes over Gill.

Outside the Lower Mainland, Kelowna and Skeena-Bulkley Valley were also close calls.

“We understand the importance of having timely results after polls close. As a result of the high participation rate in this election, particularly by special ballot and at advance polls, more time was needed to count ballots and report results,” an Elections Canada spokesperson tells CityNews.

Special ballots are cast by mail or at Elections Canada offices by voters away from their ridings during the election.

“To help ensure the accuracy of the counts, at around 5 a.m. [ET] after election night, the counting of special ballots at our facility in Ottawa was paused to give counters and scrutineers a break. We anticipate having all ballots counted and results reported later [Tuesday].”

That promise was kept, as 99.72 per cent of polls in B.C. completed reporting by the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Conservative Aaron Gunn won the North Island-Powell River riding.

The riding, which geographically covers half of Vancouver Island and much of the province’s coast, became the subject of major controversy when Gunn’s hateful statements about Indigenous people and the country’s history of residential schools came to light.

Despite several prominent groups repeatedly protesting his candidacy, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre continued to back Gunn as polls identified him as a frontrunner in the riding.

Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson also won his riding, the Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby seat, for the Liberal Party. Robertson was an MLA with the B.C. NDP for three years beginning in 2005 before serving as Vancouver mayor between 2008 and 2018.

—With files from Charles Brockman

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