Politics

B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon wins Vancouver-Quilchena by-election

He'll have a seat in the B.C. legislature for the first time in nine years

by Charlie Smith on April 30th, 2022 at 8:47 PM
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      There was no big surprise in a B.C. by-election tonight.

      B.C. Leader Kevin Falcon cruised to an easy victory in Vancouver-Quilchea, defeating New Democrat Jeanette Ashe, Wendy Hayko of the B.C. Greens, Conservative Dallas Brodie, and Libertarian Sandra Filosof-Schipper.

      With 96 percent of ballot boxes counted at 8:45 p.m., Falcon had 58.34 percent of the votes.

      Ashe, a political science professor at Douglas College, was in second place with 24.58 percent. She was followed by Hayko, a emergency-management specialist, at 9.73 percent.

      The Conservative, Brodie, was at 6.72 percent.

      The seat was vacated by former B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson after his party was trounced by the NDP in the 2020 provincial election. He won 56 percent of the votes in his constituency in his last two elections.

      Vancouver Quilchena is the second-wealthiest provincial electoral district in B.C. It runs from the west of Granville Street from West 16th to West 57th, where it buttonhooks over to West Boulevard down to the Fraser River. It includes Musqueam Indian Reservation #2, Dunbar-Southlands, Arbutus Ridge, Kerrisdale, and parts of Shaughnessy and Marpole.

      Falcon was elected in Surrey as a B.C. Liberal candidate in 2001, 2005, and 2009. He held several cabinet posts, including health and finance, before choosing not to seek reelection in 2013.

      For the past several years, he's been a senior executive with Anthem Properties.

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