- Incumbent: Doug Routley (NDP | 2005)
- Candidates:
- NDP: Sheila Malcolmson
- Conservative: Dale Parker
- Green: Shirley Lambrecht
- Results:
- NDP – 54%
- Green – 28%
- Liberal – 18%
- Description:
- The more urbanized of the two Nanaimo ridings, Nanaimo-Gabriola Island contains everything just south of Departure Bay all the way down Highway 1 until South Wellington and Cedar, roping in the titular island along the way.
- Barring the four year blip after Campbell’s 2001 landslide, southern Nanaimo has been bedrock NDP turf since Dave Barrett swept to victory in 1972. Home to a mix of smaller, historical houses and new apartments coming up around the downtown core, it’s a blend of the unionized Dippers of old and the new urbanites working in white-collar jobs.
- Regardless, NDP strength radiates outwards from the downtown core of Nanaimo. The BC Liberals have only shown signs of Nanaimo in one or two polls on the waterfront, along with respectable showings in East Wellington west of Nanaimo Parkway. The Conservatives will be hoping to build on the centre-right support there and capitalize on concerns over downtown disorder to make a breakthrough.
- As for the Greens, they’ll be looking to build on their impressive 2020 showing, in which they nearly cracked 30% of the vote. While Green strength has receded from the high of Paul Manly’s 2019 federal by-election breakthrough, Gabriola Island’s environmentalist streak still remains and they shouldn’t be counted out of the running.
- The race here will be between incumbent New Democrat MLA Sheila Malcolmson, United-turned-Conservative candidate Dale Parker, and Green standard-bearer Shirley Lambrecht. Malcolmson chose the safer of the two Nanaimo ridings - partly because she lives on Gabriola island, partly due to her association with downtown Nanaimo, but also because the communities of Nanaimo-Lantzville have always tilted further right. With even former NDP MLA and Mayor Leonard Krog discussing how Eby should have adopted tougher measures on public safety sooner rather than later, time may vindicate her move as a wise one.
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.
