- Incumbent: Mike Morris (NDP | 2013)
- Candidates:
- NDP: Shar McCrory
- Conservative: Kiel Giddens
- Green: James Steidle
- Independent: Rachael Weber
- Results:
- Liberal – 52%
- NDP – 34%
- Green – 11%
- Other – 4%
- Description:
- One of the three Prince George “rurban” ridings taking in a chunk of greater PG and mashing it with a regional district or two, Prince George-Mackenzie has been in the centre-right column since its creation in 2009. For the first time in more than a decade though, the riding will finally have a new MLA.
- Incumbent United MLA Mike Morris has chosen to retire, leaving Kiel Giddens as the main right-wing standard-bearer in the riding. Formerly the BC United candidate for the riding, he was given a golden ticket after the previous Conservative candidate Rachael Weber was ousted over her comments on 5G spreading COVID-19. Undeterred, the school board trustee is continuing her run as an independent.
- Challenging from the left are the NDP’s Shar McCrory and the Greens’ James Steidle. McCrory is also a Prince George school board trustee, while Steidle is a former candidate for PG city council. The NDP tends to do best in the Heritage neighbourhood in the urban core of PG, while the BC Liberals have found success around it in Cranbook Hill and along Shady Valley.
- Giddens will draw strength from Prince George thanks to his past tenure as the President of its Chamber of Commerce, but to seal the deal he’ll have to extend his appeal into the Fraser-Fort George Regional District and the District of Mackenzie. It’ll be a bit of a bumpier road for the rookie candidate, and he’ll certainly have to brush up on his knowledge of the forestry industry.
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.
