PARKSVILLE — The riding of Ladysmith-Oceanside turned into one of the province’s most hotly contested battleground ridings Saturday night.
At the close of counting on Saturday, Oct. 24, BC Conservative challenger Kris McNichol held a slim 88-vote lead over NDP incumbent Stephanie Higginson, representing just a 0.3 per cent margin between the pair.
McNichol told NanaimoNewsNOW it’s likely the final result won’t be known for some time.
“It’s going to come down to a recount, mail-in ballots or whatever needs to happen, and if I’m lucky enough to win that then my job is to represent the constituencies of Ladysmith and Oceanside, so we’ll have a voice on the mid-Island, and I’ll make sure my voice is heard.”
The riding was separated by razor-thin margins all night, with McNichol edging out to an early lead, before Higginson overtook for part of the evening.
Elections BC must still count both mail-in and absentee ballots ahead of delivering final results in around two weeks’ time.
McNichol said he was yet to speak directly with Higginson, but will watch how things unfold closely.
“My job, if I do end up winning, is to make sure the people of Ladysmith Oceanside have a voice, and to make sure that we keep up with the promises made. I don’t care about left versus right, I want to unite this, let’s take the politics out of politics and start governing for the people, all the people.”
NanaimoNewsNOW attempted to connect with Higginson Saturday evening, but her campaign manager said she would not be addressing media yet.
Higginson won the new-look riding in 2024, after previously serving as a Nanaimo-Ladysmith School Board trustee.
Inland, Josie Osborne won Mid Island-Pacific Rim for a third time, easing past Conservative Joshua Dahling.
Osborne will serve in opposition for the first time, as her party lost their majority in the Legislature and will carry around 27 seats into the next sitting.
“I know that we have a job ahead of us and that job is to hold the government account. That job is to make sure that this government is working for people and we’ll see how things unfold in the coming days and weeks ahead.”
She said it was clear British Columbians had spoken across the province, and the message sent was extremely clear.
“I’m proud of the campaign that we ran as the BCNDP, and proud of the work that we’ve done over the last nine years for people, and you know here in this riding, delivering hundreds of units of affordable housing, affordable childcare spaces, all of the work we’ve done to renovate schools, build new schools, and we’re going to continue to fight for those things and the things that people need.”
Osborne added there was a lot of frustration about the snap election call, and said it was too early to consider how she will handle a pending leadership race with the NDP, as David Eby resigned from the party’s top job Saturday evening during his concession speech.
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