Oct 29 - The votes are in...again

Good morning !

Nine days after the election, we finally know who our premier will be—David Eby is projected to continue in his role as recounts came to a close yesterday (although judicial recounts are still possible for some Mainland ridings). Read more below about the final tally and the Island municipality that helped determine the result.

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: ⛅️ 10 / 8

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 9 / 7

Thursday: 🌧️ 10 / 7

NEWS

NDP wins Juan de Fuca – Malahat, and BC election

Yesterday, after more than a week of uncertainty, the final vote count confirmed that Sooke councillor Dana Lajeunesse has won the new Westshore riding. He defeated Conservative Marina Sapozhnikov by 141 votes.

NDP flips close Surrey riding, gaining majority

With wins in Juan de Fuca and the also-close Surrey City Centre the NDP will have at least 46 of BC's 93 seats, and right now are at 47. Two BC ridings are still to be ultimately confirmed, due to the close margin, though are not likely to change hands:

• Surrey–Guildford, a 27-vote NDP comeback win as of Monday

• Kelowna City Centre, 38-vote Conservative win as of Monday

They will go to a BC Supreme Court judicial recount. Courtenay – Comox, with a 92-vote Conservative win, ended up not close enough for a recount.

Assuming Surrey-Guildford holds, the NDP will not be as reliant on support from the Greens (including new local MLA-elect Rob Botterell) as they were expected to be last week with 46. 

See BC-wide final count results here.

Local riding drew BC-wide attention—twice

First, JDF–Malahat had the narrowest margin after initial vote counts on Oct. 19—meaning that its final tally could decide the government in a nearly tied race

Then, late last week, the spotlight intensified after a recording emerged in which Sapozhnikov repeatedly denigrated Indigenous Peoples, history, and studies. The audio was from election night, when a VIU student was interviewing Sapozhnikov. It drew condemnation from First Nations groups, opposing politicians, and Sapozhnikov's own party leader. 

Lajeunesse becomes latest local MLA-elect

The Sooke councillor was a forest industry worker until a major injury. He then began using a wheelchair and became a mechanical engineering technologist and worked at Camosun. He was elected in Sooke's 2019 byelection, and won kept his council seat in 2022. Sooke will now need a new byelection to find a replacement councillor, as will Esquimalt after Darlene Rotchford was also elected as an NDP candidate. 

South Island has newcomers in 6 of 9 ridings 

First-time electees include the Greens’ Botterell and the NDP's Lajeunesse, Nina Krieger (Victoria–Swan Lake), Diana Gibson (Oak Bay), Darlene Rotchford (Esquimalt–Colwood), and Debra Toporowski (Cowichan Valley).

Lana Popham, Grace Lore, and Ravi Parmar held their seats for the NDP. 

No local incumbents were defeated in their own ridings, but Rob Fleming and Murray Rankin retired from provincial politics while Adam Olsen and Mitzi Dean stepped away for personal reasons in the summer. 

When Sonia Furstenau's Cowichan Valley riding was partly split off into the newly added JDF–Malahat during redistricting, she chose to run instead in Victoria–Beacon Hill nearer to where her children live. In a clash of two sitting MLAs, she lost to Grace Lore. 

Read Capital Daily's full election-night results and interviews here.

Support local journalism by supporting Capital Daily. Become a Capital Daily Insider member today and help bring local stories to life. 

NEWS

Saanich approves $21M Road Safety Action Plan

Saanich council unanimously voted to approve the plan last week, intending to bring the district closer to targets for its Vision Zero—a European system to reduce road fatalities—targets, adopted in 2022. It’s the first road safety plan to be adopted by an Island municipality.

Of the $21M cost, the municipality will put forward $5M in existing funds, with the remaining $16M coming from taxation grants, borrowing, and new revenue streams. Council voted to add $2M to the 2025 financial plan to cover improvements that can be made in the short term, within the next two years.

Saanich’s roads often get a bad reputation, being home to some of ICBC’s top dangerous intersections in Greater Victoria each year. However, most of these high-crash intersections are on provincially owned roads.

Still, every 10 hours a crash occurs somewhere in Saanich, according to the Road Safety Action Plan (RSAP). Between 2016 and 2020, 12 fatal crashes occurred in the region. There have been several notable collisions involving pedestrians in Saanich—including teens killed or injured—in recent years at intersections and crosswalks, creating more pressure for change.

The RSAP includes 30 actions to improve road safety, with nine listed as “priority” and 21 as “supporting.” 

Actions include: 

• Improving line of sight at intersections

• Reviewing and reducing speed limits 

• Prioritizing public transit and other modes of transportation 

• Improving crosswalks and signage

Read more details on the plan—including priority changes expected to be rolled out first.

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⭐️ Capital Picks

😬 🐟️ My, what big teeth you have: A local expert gets to the bottom of why a mysterious dead fish on on a Metchosin beach had so many teeth. [The Marine Detective]

🏠 Greater Victoria residents gave the region's housing a grade of D-. Read all the results of the new 2024 Victoria's Vital Signs report online today!*

🏫 Camosun teams with Malahat FN to help adults’ education SOAR. [Times Colonist]

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Man Tasered, arrested after wielding sword, knife downtown
VicPD told Capital Daily it responded to a call that a man was waving the weapons on Yates near Blanshard Sat. around 4pm. When they approached him, he resisted arrest so officers used a Taser on him, police said. He was taken to hospital and police said they would continue to investigate before determining whether to lay charges. 

Victoria-based coast guard ship search turns up shark fins
Wrapping up a mission to enforce international fishing regulations, Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Sir Wilfrid Laurier was in on a search of 15 fishing boats in the North Pacific. Some of them were allegedly found to have been harvesting shark fins, which are seen both as a delicacy and a medicinal agent in some Asian countries. CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier returned to port in Esquimalt yesterday, after parolling some 20K km. [CHEK]

Victoria library staffer told to choose between job and childcare will get human rights hearing
The GVPL staffer was hired with a 9am-5pm schedule that allowed her to pick up her child from after-school care which ends at 5:30pm. But when her schedule changed to 10am-6pm, the single parent requested to instead work from 9:15am-5:15pm three days a week to accommodate pickup. She was told that she could either keep her job with the later hours or quit and take on occasional shift work. The Human rights tribunal says GVPL did not consider all options to accommodate her, prompting the hearing. [Times Colonist]

🗓️ Things to do

🐛 Gourds Gone Wild: Family fun painting mini-pumpkins at the Tillicum Centre tomorrow. [Book a time] Today's creepy & crawly afternoon at Tillicum with the Victoria Bug Zoo is now sold out.

🎶 Sophie Lukacs Trio: Dinner and concert at The Mint restaurant, featuring the Montreal-based trio tonight. 7:30pm. [Info]

🏠 Open House at Camosun College: Prospective students are encouraged to experience the energy and excitement of the campus in the school’s first full viewing tour since the pandemic. Nov. 2. 11 am-3pm. [Info]

🎩 Victoria Symphony: Lucas Waldin conducts Murdoch Mysteries in Concert. A musical journey through themes composed for the CBC-TV show. Royal Theatre. Nov. 2. 7:30pm. [Info]

👩‍🎨 44th Annual Creative Craft Fairs: Join 130+ exhibitors from all over BC. Art, crafts, food, woodwork, wine, clothes, glass, beauty, and more. Pearkes Rec. Nov. 8-10. [Info]

CORRECTION: The 4th annual SUP Witches Paddle was Oct. 26, not Oct. 29. 

Looking for something to do this weekend? Subscribe to This Week In Vic to get the full list of what’s on this week. 

👀 In Case You Missed It

Monday’s headlines: Island Conservative candidate’s anti-Indigenous comments emerge amid election recount; UVic cross-country teams score gold and silver. [Oct. 28]

4.1-magnitude quake strikes off coast of northern part of the Island. [Vancouver Sun]

Blanshard construction updates: Concrete medians being installed from Caledonia to Pandora. Concrete intersections and underground utilities being done from Johnson to View; some lane, pedestrian, & parking restrictions

Peninsula plane plant hiring hundreds to build firefighting craft for Europe. [Times Colonist]

Seniors unfairly evicted from private pay facility, families say. [CHEK]

Local prison’s play on incarceration sells out early. [Martlet]

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.