Despite having its borders moved further north, the riding’s name of Prince George is actually a bit of a misnomer. Rather, the riding is moreso the southern exurban environs that still fall within the city limits of Prince George, anchored by the city of Quesnel and sprawling across northern Cariboo.
Here, incumbent United-turned-independent MLA Coralee Oakes is locked in the fight of her life. A longtime Quesnel city councillor and executive director for its Chamber of Commerce, Oakes has won the riding by healthy majorities since defeating NDP-turned-independent MLA Bob Simpson in 2013 - and she’ll be hoping to avoid the same fate.
Helping Oakes in her bid is the calibre of her opponents. The NDP has nominated Denice Bardua, an employee of the Quesnel school board - which, compared to their 2020 offering of 3-term city councillor Scott Elliott, just isn’t as impressive. The Greens have a local City of Quesnel employee as well.
Oakes’ main opponent in the riding is Prince George Conservative Sheldon Clare, a post-secondary educator and past president of Canada’s National Firearms Association for over a decade. While dogged by some controversial comments, Clare’s party is on the upswing and, unlike in most other ridings, actually did contest the 2020 election.
While it may be uncouth to say aloud, regionalism may benefit Oakes in the riding. Clare’s ties to Quesnel may be weaker than in Prince George, which makes up a much smaller sliver of the population. To win, Oakes will have to attract traditionally NDP voters to her campaign in order to run up the score in the forestry town, while at the same time making sure not to slip too much in more rural areas across the Cariboo Regional District.
