🗳 Oct 20 - And the election winner is...

Good morning !

The bottom line is that the election results aren't quite settled yet, but a few key Island ridings look likely to play a key role in how it all plays out. Read on below and we'll explain how.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌧 10 / 9

Tomorrow: 🌧 10 / 5

Day after: ☀️ 11 / 5

7-day forecast

NEWS

No clear winner after first night of BC election count—but local candidates may hold the key

After a very soggy election day, the NDP are neck and neck with the Conservatives and the final election outcome will remain unclear for a number of days. Preliminary counts have them at 46 and 45 seats respectively, with the Greens winning 2 seats that they could use to tip either party (though presumably the NDP, as in 2017) to the 47 needed to win votes in the Legislature.

But seat counts could still change due to a few ridings whose results were within 200 votes after Saturday—a small enough margin to still tip in final counts.

Two dozen local votes could help determine election

The Westshore's Juan de Fuca – Malahat riding unexpectedly became one of those prized few ridings. Newly created partly out of former Premier John Horgan's vast electoral district, the NDP were expected to hold the seat—which they did easily in neighbouring Esquimalt – Colwood and Langford – Highlands.

For the NDP, Sooke councillor Dana Lajeunesse holds a mere 23-vote lead over Conservative physician Marina Sapozhnikov. There are several other close toss-up ridings in the Surrey area, a region the NDP is trying to hold ground in after being swept in the neighbouring Fraser Valley.

Green leader Furstenau loses Victoria bid, but party maintains seats

Sonia Furstenau's move from the Cowichan area to Victoria – Beacon Hill provides unable to overturn two decades of NDP dominance in the downtown riding. She lost to Grace Lore, and will not join new Saanich North & Islands MLA Rob Botterell (replacing Adam Olsen, who did not run) and mainlander Jeremy Valeriote.

Speaking to Capital Daily last night, Furstenau acknowledged that her province-crossing role as leader gave her campaign manager “an incredibly challenging task to run a campaign where the candidate was almost never there.”

But as party leader, she may yet be the biggest winner in the larger contest if the current breakdown holds and grants the Greens the kingmaking status they had under Andrew Weaver in 2017.

Read the full story on election results, and interviews with candidates, at Capital Daily.

Island winners as of Sunday morning:

• Esquimalt-Colwood: NDP – Darlene Rotchford

• Cowichan Valley: NDP – Debra Toporowski

• Oak-Bay Gordon Head: NDP – Diana Gibson

• Juan de Fuca Malahat: Too close to call (NDP Dana Lajeunesse vs. Conservative Marina Sapozhnikov) 

• Langford-Highlands: NDP – Ravi Parmar*

• Saanich South: NDP – Lana Popham*

• Saanich North and Gulf Islands: Green – Rob Botterell 

• Victoria-Beacon Hill: NDP – Grace Lore*

• Victoria Swan-Lake: NDP – Nina Krieger

  *= incumbent MLA

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

40% chance of showers today & tomorrow.

Things you can do to prevent wind & flood damage: City of Victoria tips.

Missing person: Monique Wickett, 23, reported Oct 10 but last seen May 12 in Victoria. [Photo / info]

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Weekend rainfall & flooding forces local closures

The West Island was on a Flood Warning this morning, with the rest of the Island at the lower-tier Flood Watch, as this weekend's atmospheric river storm weather continues.

Yesterday Hwy 14 was closed, from Jordan River to Port Renfrew, all day due to washout. The next update will be at 9:30am today. 

Sooke announced that the potholes gateway would be closed as a precaution due to the rising of the river. In Feb. 2020, three young men died after being swept away while visiting the Sooke River during a storm. 

On Friday, Sooke opened up a self-serve sandbag station at the Ed Macgregor Park Parking Lot.

Some polling places on Mayne, Denman, and Hornby were closed in the morning due to weather but reopened. Experts speculated that the weather could suppress overall turnout, and that fall weather may be a factor in why BC municipal elections typically draw fewer people than provincial ones (which are typically in the spring). 

⭐️ Capital Picks

🐮 Did you know there are bison on the Island? See them here via VanIsleWildlife.

🎉 Turn your aspirations into achievements! Enhance your skills with Continuing Studies at UVic through flexible micro-certificates for career growth.*

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Pacific FC make playoffs in down-to-the-wire season finale 
A goal by Victoria's own Dario Zanatta in the 32nd minute stamped the local team's ticket to the CanPL playoffs for a 5th time. PFC entered yesterday's Langford match with a narrow lead in the race for the final playoff spot, and needed to either win to stave them off or hope that neither gained enough points to tie or pass them. With a 1-0 win over league-best Forge FC (Hamilton), Pacific took control of its own future.

Westshore Rebels fall in BC football finale
The local team was defeated 23-17 in Kelowna on Saturday after a pair of 4th-quarter field goals by the Okanagan Sun broke open a tie game. The Rebels had battled back from a 3-17 deficit thanks to a pair of touchdowns enabled by Liam Kroeger interceptions. The team will not repeat as Cullen Cup champs or national finalists, as last year's 12-1 squad did. But respectable postseason showings have salvaged a season in which Westshore swooned to just 5-5 (now 6-6) including 4 straight losses before the playoffs.

🗓️ Things to do

📖 Victoria Festival of Authors wraps today with several events still available to join.

🍄The Annual Mushroom Show: Hundreds of fungi, a Mushroom movie, and more. Today. 

🧙‍♀️ Spooky at the Station: A free outdoor market in Langford this weekend with food trucks, face painting, kids’ activities, and free raffle entry. [Info]

⚽️ UVic Soccer regular-season finale at Centennial Stadium on campus. Noon. [Tickets]

🎃 Mini Pumpkin Patch & Pottery Sale: Pick your own pumpkin (one per family), do fall-themed crafts / activities / games, and enjoy face-painting & balloons, a photo booth, & a pottery sale. 10am-2pm at JDF Rec Centre.  

🌱 Growing & Harvesting Foods & Seeds: Free workshop series begins Oct. 20 at Sooke Library & continues mainly on Sundays through Nov. [Info / reserve a spot]

🩸Blood Drive starts Monday on Colwood, 11am-5:45pm, & continues locally this week . [Book]

👀 In Case You Missed It

Friday’s news: BC ShakeOut earthquake prep. Tents down, fence up on Pandora. First Nations float new maritime museum idea. [Oct. 18]

Praying for good parking: A praying mantis was seen walking through the long-term parking lot at YYJ—it was safely relocated to a nearby path. [Facebook photos]

Enjoying our coverage? Help us make it even better!

Become an Insider member and help keep local journalism and storytelling alive in the Capital Region.