Wednesday, it was $8.7 million for a UVic-based oceans program’s climate research.
The day before that, it was $10.3 million for 21 Island projects ranging from gussying up the old Metchosin Elementary to building bike paths and sidewalks in the Comox Valley.
The week before that, it was $11.3 million for social housing in the capital region.
Not exactly the Blacktop Politics we saw when Stephen Harper chucked in $33 million for the McKenzie interchange during the run-up to the 2015 election, or the $31 million that Justin Trudeau put toward the purchase of 118 B.C. Transit buses just before the 2019 campaign.
Still, with federal cabinet ministers strewing funding announcements like Easter eggs, it was obvious a federal election was coming.
It would now be more of a surprise if Justin Trudeau didn’t call a Sept. 20 election Sunday, two years ahead of schedule, than if he did. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh might flay the prime minister for launching an opportunistic “power grab” during a pandemic, but what the Liberals are doing mirrors what B.C.’s New Democrats did, successfully, last fall.
When the call comes, the New Democrats will head into the election holding just 24 of the 338 seats in the House of Commons, but five of the seven on Vancouver Island. The Greens hold the other two Island seats — the only two they hold in Canada.
In any case, the four main parties on the Island are preparing as though an election is imminent. Almost all of their candidates are in place. Here’s a quick look at who they’ll be placing on the ballot.
Victoria
Rookie MP Laurel Collins is the NDP’s environment and climate-change critic. The new mother — she had a baby in April — is looking to hold on to a seat the New Democrats have won six times in a row since 2006. Her Liberal opponent will once again be oceans and climate expert Nikki Macdonald, a former Jean Chretien adviser. The Greens, runners-up in 2019, nominated newcomer Nick Loughton at the beginning of August. No Conservative yet.
Saanich-Gulf Islands
It’s deja vu all over again, with three candidates from 2019 — incumbent Green Elizabeth May, New Democrat Sabina Singh and Conservative David Busch — nominated again. The big difference is that May, who has had a lock on the seat since 2011, is no longer party leader. The newcomer is Liberal Sherri Moore-Arbour, a communications professional.
Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke
Three-term New Democrat Randall Garrison’s challengers will include Liberal Doug Kobayashi — a Colwood councillor, business consultant and former WestShore Chamber of Commerce president — and forest researcher Harley Gordon for the Greens. The Conservatives are keen to vet three potential candidates who have begun the nomination process.
Cowichan-Malahat-Langford
Incumbent New Democrat Alistair MacGregor will once again run against 2019 Liberal opponent Blair Herbert, a realtor. They’ll share a ballot with Conservative Alana DeLong, a Thetis Island resident who served for 14 years as an MLA in Alberta and ran for the B.C. Liberals in 2017. The Greens were to choose between Nick Dickinson-Wilde and Lia Versaevel this week, but instead added a third nominee, Shirley Lambrecht.
Nanaimo-Ladysmith
The New Democrats lost this seat to the Greens’ Paul Manly in 2019, but with the latter party embroiled in infighting, the NDP senses a chance to wrest it back. School trustee Lisa Marie Barron was chosen in May to run against Manly. Liberal Michelle Corfield is back for her third straight attempt. Tamara Kronis, who has a background in business and law, will run for the Conservatives, who placed second in 2019.
Courtenay-Alberni
New Democrat MP Gord Johns will run against Liberal Susan Farlinger, formerly a DFO scientist and assistant deputy minister and Canada’s lead negotiator at the Pacific Salmon Commission, and Conservative Mary Lee, a communications professional and former major in the Canadian Armed Forces. No Green yet.
North Island- Powell River
NDP MP Rachel Blaney’s Conservative opponent will be the same as it was in 2019: Port McNeill municipal councillor Shelley Downey. Comox human rights lawyer Jessica Wegg is the Green candidate. No Liberal so far.
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