- Incumbent: Nicholas Simons (NDP | 2020)
- Candidates:
- NDP: Randene Neill
- Conservative: Chris Moore
- Green: Chris Hergesheimer
- Independent: Greg Reid
- Results:
- NDP – 51%
- Green – 32%
- Liberal – 17%
- Description:
- Held by NDP MLA Nicholas Simons since 2005, the voters of Powell River-Sunshine Coast will not see his name on the ballot for the first time in 2 decades. In his place are 3 strong contenders and 1 independent, all hoping to claim the seat as their own.
- The Conservatives were first out of the gate with their candidate. Businessman Chris Moore was originally contesting the riding for BC United, but jumped ship to the Conservatives as their star rose heading into summer. Hot on their heels were the NDP, who poached former Global News anchor Randene Neill as their star candidate here. Last but not least for the major parties was Chris Hergesheimer for the Greens, a well-known social worker on the Coast. Local artist Greg Reid is mounting a quixotic bid as well.
- Unlike most of the ridings along the coast of British Columbia, Powell River-Sunshine Coast doesn’t have an extended NDP lineage. Part of that was due to the candidacy of one Gordon Wilson, who catapulted the BC Liberals from zero seats in the legislature all the way to the Official Opposition, winning his riding along the way. Soon after, he was drawn into the battle against two other Gordons, Campbell and Gibson as they sought to oust a leader caught in an affair with a fellow MLA. Wilson went rogue after Campbell clinched the crown, and formed the Progressive Democratic Alliance before defecting to the New Democrats. There, he even served a brief stint as a cabinet minister before going down in defeat to Gordon Campbell, again.
- Still, this riding’s quirkiness couldn’t be contained to but one individual. Green leader Adrianne Carr targeted the riding hard in 2001 and 2005, scoring 2 impressive showings in the mid-20s before decamping to Vancouver. Its Green streak has remained though, and Hergesheimer is looking to channel the conservationist and environmentalist tendencies of voters along the Coast into the party’s best ever showing.
- With the departure of such a long-serving incumbent, the New Democrats are on the defensive. Even in the banner year of 2020, NDP support stayed stagnant as the Greens surged 8 points. Complicating things in the riding are the government’s policy on reconciliation and tourism. The shíshálh swiya dock management plan proposal has stirred up controversy between the dockowner residents on the coast and the Indigenous peoples due to the Land Act, and the government’s crackdown on short-term rentals could impact the tourism industry up and down the coast as well. Covering such a large landmass, all 3 parties have put forth promises on transit to improve connectivity as well.
- The riding is divided into two main parts: the qathet Regional District, centered around the mill town of Powell River; and the Sunshine Coast Regional District, populated by middle-class retirees living in communities dotted across the coast such as Sechelt, Gibsons, and Roberts Creek. Powell River has gone back and forth between the Conservatives and the New Democrats federally since the turn of the century, with the Tories faring well under Harper but having it wrested back by NDP MP Rachel Blaney since 2015. Her decision not to seek re-election federally may be a harbinger of things to come.
- Further down the Coast is where things get really tricky. Chris Moore and Randene Neill hail from Sechelt and Pender Harbour respectively - in the past, the federal Conservatives and the BC Liberals have done well down Highway 101 from Madeira Park down to western Sechelt, while the NDP have shown strength in Sechelt’s downtown. As you travel further down the 101, towns like Roberts Creek (where Hergesheimer lived for 14 years)) and Gibsons have seen increasing Green strength in the past few elections.
- Since the riding spans so many distinct communities, don’t be surprised to see any of the three parties jump up to a lead first on election night. Hergesheimer will be hoping that his efforts in the lower Sunshine Coast could vault him to Victoria, Moore will be looking to make inroads into Sechelt and Powell River, and Neill will be eyeing the whole riding to ensure she doesn’t lose too much ground anywhere.
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.
