- Incumbent: Adam Walker (Independent | 2020)
- Candidates:
- NDP: Stephanie Higginson
- Conservative: Brett Fee
- Green: Laura Ferreira
- Independent: Adam Walker
- Results:
- NDP – 44%
- Liberal – 33%
- Green – 19%
- Conservative – 3%
- Description:
- Drawing in communities all around the Regional District of Nanaimo, Ladysmith-Oceanside is the only riding in British Columbia that needs you to drive through another riding (two, actually!) to traverse through all of it. The small towns across the riding have slowly grown into a suburban commuter belt around the City of Nanaimo in the past few decades. Incumbent MLA Adam Walker was expelled from caucus last year, and is now standing as an independent candidate for the riding.
- Joining him on the campaign trail are candidates from the three major parties - the NDP’s Stephanie Higginson, a former school trustee for Nanaimo Ladysmith; the Conservatives’ Brett Fee, a Parksville martial arts instructor; and the Greens’ Laura Ferreira, a staffer for the party.
- Sprawling across the middle of Vancouver Island, getting around the riding alone will be a challenge, let alone representing it. A former Qualicum Beach town councillor, Walker will seek to stake his claim here, tearing away votes from the NDP, the Greens, and perhaps even the Conservatives. Fee hails from Parksville, and will be hoping to run up the score there, while Higginson will be hoping to consolidate the left in the riding in hopes of overcoming a votesplit. The Greens are beleaguered in the riding, only nominating a staffer as their paper candidate.
- In the riding, one issue dominates above all else - healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. Ladysmith-Oceanside is the oldest riding in British Columbia, and primary care is the top issue on the minds of its elderly residents. Here, even the housing crisis is related to primary care, as many of the facilities in Parksville and Qualicum Beach need young workers who can actually afford to live in the area.
- With so many communities all drawn into one riding, Ladysmith-Oceanside will be an unpredictable rollercoaster on election night. From the centre-right communities of Parksville and Qualicum Beach to the lefty town of Ladysmith, the independent factor simply makes this riding too close to call.
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.
