The race to represent the newly created federal riding of Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke is heating up early with nomination run-offs for all major parties hoping to unseat the incumbent.
When NDP MP Randall Garrison defends his seat in the federal election scheduled for Oct. 19, he is expected to have an eager host of candidates to debate.
The boundary of Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca electoral riding that Garrison represents is similar to the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke riding, which includes about 113,000 people in Esquimalt, Colwood, Metchosin, View Royal, Sooke and parts of Saanich.
Given the history of the riding, it’s not surprising the three main parties think they have a shot and the Greens also believe they have a good chance, said Norman Ruff, political scientist and University of Victoria professor emeritus.
Garrison won the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca riding with 40.9 per cent of the vote in 2011, just slightly ahead of Conservative Troy DeSouza with 40.2 per cent. The NDP candidate won the hotly contested riding with a 406-vote margin.
In 2008, DeSouza lost by 68 votes.
Prior to that, Keith Martin knocked off former B.C. NDP premier Dave Barrett in 1993 in the first of six election victories, initially with the Reform party, then the Canadian Alliance and eventually as a Liberal in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
“It’s not a surprise that, of all the ridings on Vancouver Island, it’s that one where the three main parties regard themselves as contenders,” Ruff said.
Meanwhile, with Green party Leader Elizabeth May holding a seat in neighbouring Saanich-Gulf Islands, it’s also not surprising that the Greens believe they have a base and momentum on Vancouver Island, he said.
Photographer Frances Litman is the latest candidate to announce interest in getting the nomination to represent the Green party in the riding of Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke.
Litman, an Esquimalt resident for more than two decades, owns a small business as a professional photographer and is managing director of the Creatively United for the Planet society’s Earth Week festival. She worked at the Times Colonist for more than a decade.
She will compete for the Green party nomination against Dave Hodgins, a retired fire chief, former one-term councillor in Esquimalt and former assistant deputy minister in the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke Green party nominations closed Wednesday and the nomination race is scheduled for Feb. 15 at the Royal Colwood Golf Course, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Nominations for the Liberal and Conservatives have not yet closed.
People who have expressed interest in seeking the nomination to represent the Conservative Party in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke are: Shari Lukens, a former one-term Colwood councillor, broadcaster and skating coach, and lawyer William Robertson, who has served on Colwood’s advisory planning commission.
The Conservative Party of Canada has not officially opened the riding for nominations, so race dates have not yet been set, said party spokesman Cory Hann.
The Liberal party is reviewing two potential candidates, said Randy Worthingham, electoral district president. They are Luke Krayenhoff, president of Langham Court Theatre and active in the Esquimalt Legion, and David Merner, a lawyer with the B.C. Justice Ministry and former president of the B.C. arm of the Liberal Party of Canada. A date has not been set for the Liberal nomination race.
