Latest news with #338.com
Vancouver Sun
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
Federal Election Day: Housing a main issue as Langley, Surrey voters head to the polls
Article content It's election day across Canada and B.C. residents in Langley and parts of Surrey are heading to the polls to choose new MPs to represent them in the ridings of: Article content • Cloverdale-Langley City • Langley Township-Fraser Heights Article content Article content Article content Surrey and Langley share both the ridings of Cloverdale-Langley City and the newly configured and renamed Langley Township-Fraser Heights. And before the federal election call, both seats were held by Conservatives. Article content But that might be about to change. Article content The political polling analysis website showed the Tories and the Liberals in very tight races in both ridings, with the Grits projected to win both seats by a small margin as of April 22. Article content Article content Article content Cloverdale-Langley City Article content Conservative candidate Tamara Jansen is the incumbent, having won a byelection last year after Liberal MP John Aldag resigned for an unsuccessful provincial bid as an NDP candidate. Article content Jansen, a local businesswoman, was first elected in the riding in 2019, but lost to Aldag in 2021. He got 20,877 votes to Jansen's 19,223. The NDP came in third with 10,587 votes. Article content The NDP candidate is Vanessa Sharma, a union organizer, who is projected to take just six per cent of the vote, for third place. The other two candidates are Kevin Wilkie of the Green party and Jim McMurtry of the People's Party of Canada.
CBC
25-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Uncertainty blankets Metro Vancouver as Liberals gain traction in historically NDP, Conservative ridings
This is part of a series of regional features focusing on issues and ridings in B.C. that could prove critical to the outcome of the federal election on April 28. Just days before the 2025 federal election, the potential outcome in several Metro Vancouver ridings is unclear, even in those that are often considered sure things for all of the three main parties. A couple of weeks ago, the polls were showing the potential that the Liberals may win every seat in the Metro Vancouver area. As of April 24, the region's leaning weren't quite as clear; data showed a toss up in several ridings. "The Liberals are doing a lot better than they had in the last few elections, the NDP doing a bit worse, Conservatives more or less on track with where they were in the past," said Éric Grenier, a poll analyst and writer with The Writ, and who is running the CBC Poll Tracker. "It raises the question of how many of those seats are going to flip." Conservative incumbents in ridings like South Surrey-White Rock and Abbotsford-South Langley are facing tough competition from Liberal candidates, polls show. Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh could actually lose his seat in Burnaby Central, which polling website has consistently shown as Liberal leaning during the campaign. Singh himself didn't necessarily seem steadfast in his ability to win the riding; when reporters asked him about his chances two weeks ago, Singh initially dodged the question. It took a reporter asking again for him to say "I'm confident that I'll be able to serve the people of Burnaby Central." Even Vancouver East, where the NDP's Jenny Kwan has held the MP seat for nearly 10 years, and her predecessor Libby Davies, also of the NDP and who held it for eight years, isn't safe for the New Democrats this time around; on Thursday morning, 338 suggested the Liberals had an equal shot at winning the seat. Political scientist Stewart Prest said it's notable that the Liberals would even have a shot in that riding. "If there's a safe seat for the NDP in the country, we would think it would be Vancouver East," he said. "It is an unusual election." Toss up For the purpose of this story, CBC News looked at 23 ridings in the Metro Vancouver area, as shown below. As of Thursday, 10 of those ridings, situated throughout the region, were considered a "toss up" by — that is, the numbers weren't strong enough to determine one clear winner in those areas. "The Liberals, at one point during the campaign were really far ahead," Grenier said. "Their lead was starting to get into the five, six, seven-point range in B.C. Now it's more in a three or four-point range." How are the parties doing? Check CBC's Poll Tracker Still a decent lead, but as Prest pointed out, a lot can change in just one day during an election campaign, especially when Canada's closest neighbour is threatening the country's sovereignty, placing tariffs on Canadian goods and making decisions that constantly impact the global market. If U.S. President Donald Trump remains the biggest problem, Prest said, the Liberals will likely continue to see success in Metro Vancouver and elsewhere. "But if that starts to erode or if there are new critiques of of Mr. [Mark] Carney and whether he is really listening to Canadians … then we might see that [support for the Liberals] eroded." Ross Michael Pink, a political science instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, said that while the polls may be showing some degree of uncertainty, the Greater Vancouver Area has historically voted "Liberal left." "I think it's somewhat predictable," he said, referring to the region showing more support for the federal Liberal Party. Strategic voting In every election, Prest said, there's an element of strategic voting — some people don't necessarily vote for the party they're most aligned with, but one that will knock down a party that they really don't want in power. "This is strategic voting on steroids," Prest said of what polls are showing this year. He said this happened in 2015, when Canadians who had grown tired of then-prime minister Stephen Harper were choosing between the Liberal Party's Justin Trudeau and former NDP leader Tom Mulcair. "We're seeing that, but even more magnified, where the vote for the NDP really is collapsing at this point, some polls having them in single digits," Prest said. "This is clearly a phenomenon of strategic voting driven by Mr. Trump and effectively his ability, his superpower really, to make everything about him and the election here in Canada is a part of that." It's all about strategy for the parties, too — Grenier said that's what Carney's trip to B.C.'s South Coast this week was all about. With all these toss ups, the party is looking to solidify their chances in the region. "They're playing a little bit of offence and defence, trying to go after some of those NDP seats and also trying to shore up their seats south of the Fraser River," he said. Vancouver could determine minority, majority: Grenier Federal elections can be frustrating for western provinces whose voters may still be standing in line at the polls while ballots are being counted out east — and the election is called before they get home. But Grenier said current polls suggest B.C. could play an important role in the outcome of this election. "If we do see in the coming days that the margins continue to get a little bit tighter between the Liberals and the Conservatives, we could be in a place where the extra 10 seats that the Liberals might be able to pick up in B.C. could make the difference," he said. No matter who Metro Vancouver voters are supporting, Pink implores people to vote. "There are ridings historically in Canada and America and other countries that have been decided by less than 10 votes, so it's very important," he said.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In Winnipeg West, familiarity breeds contest
On a residential street in Winnipeg's Westwood neighbourhood, Earl Klassen is happy to receive an announced visit from Conservative candidate Marty Morantz. "You had my vote last time and you'll have it again," Klassen told the twice-elected MP, who is seeking a third victory in a riding now known as Winnipeg West. Klassen, a retiree, said the Liberal Party of Canada has been "giving things away too much" and believes a Conservative government would be more practical. "They are a little bit more realistic about how things are going. They're more in tune with the people, I think," Klassen said while standing in his doorway, adding he likes Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for his straight talk. The federal election is not expected to be a cakewalk for the Conservatives, who trail the Liberals in most polls. Even an incumbent like Morantz, a former city councillor, faces a challenge in Winnipeg West. After defeating former Liberal MP Doug Eyolfson in 2019 by a comfortable 2,417-vote margin in the former Charleswood-St. James-Assinboia-Headingley riding, Morantz only squeaked by the emergency room physician by 460 votes in a 2021 rematch. Now, with Liberal fortunes in Winnipeg buoyed by anti-U.S. sentiment — and more of Winnipeg placed in Morantz's riding due to boundary realignment — Winnipeg West now appears to be the most difficult seat for the Conservatives to hold in Manitoba. The new Winnipeg West riding, in yellow, encompasses what used to be Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia Headingley as well as the portions of two neighbouring ridings. (CBC News) Polling analyst Philippe Fournier's lists Winnipeg West a likely Liberal seat, if the election was held on Monday. Knocking on doors To Morantz, who has not forgotten his narrow 2021 election victory, the horse race is of no concern. "I've been up in the polls, I've been down in the polls," the Conservative candidate said late last week in an interview in his campaign office, which is nestled between an insurance retailer and a cannabis store. Morantz said when he knocks on doors, all he hears about is people struggling with their money. "When I talk to seniors, they're concerned about affording their lives. When I talk to young people, they're concerned about affording their lives. It wasn't like that in 2015, when houses were half the price," he said. While the Conservative Party is running on affordability, some voters have other concerns. A few houses down from Earl Klassen in Westwood, Jenna Rappai said she's more concerned about Donald Trump's aggressive stance toward Canada and plans to vote Liberal even though she's voted Green and NDP in the past. Liberal Leader Mark Carney, she said, is better positioned to contend with Trump. "Even if you are a fiscal conservative, you could still appreciate where he comes from, looking at the economy and our government," said Rappai, leaning on her fence. "I've been really happy with how he's stood up to what we're seeing happening now in the United States." Sovereignty a key issue Eyolfson said this the message he hears most often at the doorstep is a fear of losing sovereignty to the United States. "Not a lot of people think President Trump is joking about that and they're afraid," Eyolfson said outside a Charleswood assisted living residence, where he had been speaking to seniors. "People are making a very uncomfortable association between Mr. Poilievre and President Trump and they're quite worried about that." Liberal candidate Dpoug Eyolfson served as an MP from 2016 to 2019 and is trying to win the seat back. (Bartley Kives/CBC) The Morantz and Eyolfson campaigns have different strengths in this campaign. For Morantz, it's a ground game bolstered by a pair of very experienced political organizers, Michael Kowalson and Tannis Drysdale. For Eyolfson, it's popular support of the Liberals within Winnipeg, provided that support holds over the three remaining weeks of this election. Poll-by-poll results during the previous three elections suggest the race for Winnipeg West will be decided in densely populated areas of Charleswood and St. James, given that the rural areas of the riding lean more conservative. Liberal Doug Eyolfson won Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley in 2015 by capturing most of the densely populated polls within Winnipeg. The red polls were won by Eyolfson, while the blue were one by the Conservatives. (CBC News) Conservative Marty Morantz turned most of Charleswood-St. james-Assiniboia-Headingley blue in 2019. This map shows the Liberals and NDP won a few polls within Winnipeg in that election. (CBC News) The poll-by-poll result in Charleswood-St. james-Assiniboia-Headingley in 2021, when Conservative Morantz defeated Liberal Eyolfson by 460 votes. This map shows the Liberal won a few more polls within Winnipeg compared to 2019. (CBC News) Morantz and Eyolfson also face other competitors in Winnipeg West. Elections Canada has confirmed Dennis Bayomi as the Green candidate for the riding, while the NDP has nominated Avery Selby-Lyons, the daughter of former Manitoba NDP cabinet minister Erin Selby, and Levi Anger is running for the People's Party. Neither Selby-Lyons nor Anger were confirmed as candidates by Elections Canada as of Monday. The ballot for Winnipeg West and all other Canadian ridings will be set on Tuesday. A superimposition of poll-by-poll voting results from 2021 on the new boundaries for Winnipeg West. The new tural areas of the riding voted Conservative in 2021, while the Tuxedo portion voted Conservative, NDP and Liberal. (CBC News)
