- Incumbent: Ronna-Rae Leonard (NDP | 2017)
- Candidates:
- NDP: Ronna-Rae Leonard
- Conservative: Brennan Day
- Green: Arzeena Hamir
- Independent: John Hedican
- Independent: Devin Howell
- 2020 Results:
- NDP – 51%
- Liberal – 30%
- Green – 20%
- Description:
- A bellwether since 1986, Courtenay-Comox is set to be close again this fall. Incumbent MLA Ronna-Rae Leonard scraped by in 2017 by a mere 189 votes - which handed the BCNDP the balance of power in the BC Legislature.
- The riding is constituted of four main communities - Courtenay, Comox, and Electoral Areas B (Lazo North) and C (Puntledge Black Creek) of the Comox Valley Regional District. The BCNDP tends to do better in Courtenay, helped by Leonard’s tenure as a city councillor. Comox, the other town in the riding, skews more to the right, partly due to the Canadian Forces Base there. Both towns are hubs for Albertan snowbirds, many of whom bring their right-leaning voting habits with them.
- The other two contenders in the riding hail from the more rural and dispersed Comox Valley Regional District. 2020 BC Liberal candidate Brennan Day is back under the Conservative banner, while the Greens have fielded Arzeena Hamir, former Director for Electoral Area B.
- Day is focused on crime and healthcare, the latter of which is dear to the hearts of seniors. Hamir, meanwhile, is highlighting Green policies on water management and farm security in response to a recent drought period and a proposed water bottling plant around Merville which would take water away from a communal aquifer. To beat Leonard in their rematch, Day will have to make inroads in Courtenay and Comox, while Hamir could throw a spanner into the works of both parties with her strong agricultural credentials appealing to voters in the CVRD.
Hugh Chan is a second year student at UBC studying International Relations and Data Science. You can find more coverage of the 2024 BC election as well as politics across East Asia and the Anglosphere at https://x.com/shxnhugh.
