Thursday, March 28, 2024

BC Election Riding Profile: Oak Bay-Gordon Head

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From October 10 to 16, Victoria Buzz will be profiling the seven ridings in the Greater Victoria area.

We reached out to candidates to provide information on what they think the most important issues are in this election.

Today we’re looking at the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head.

As its name implies, this riding encompasses all of Oak Bay, as well as the neighbourhood of Gordon Head. It also includes portions of Victoria, including Jubilee and Gonzales east of Richmond Road.

The University of Victoria and the Jubilee Hospital are within the riding’s boundaries.

Here are the candidates running for the riding:

BC Liberal Party – Roxanne Helme

Age: 58
Background: Courtroom lawyer, community volunteer, mother and environmentalist

Key issues:
“It is clear that the three key issues in this Election are:

  • integrity – people are furious about the opportunistic election call, they see that the NDP would rather be judged on Dr. Henry’s work than their own
  • economic recovery – people are concerned with respect to how our next government will be able to jump start the economy and in particular the private sector
  • homelessness/mental health/addictions/public safety – there is no shortage of compassion in our community for those who are struggling and the feeling is that everyone is being put in harms way with the current government’s ‘response’ “

BC NDP – Murray Rankin

Age: 70
Background: Environmental lawyer, treaty negotiator, former MP

Key issues:
“As your MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head, I’ll advocate for accessible healthcare, affordable housing and childcare, strong environmental protection and climate action, and meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

A re-elected BC NDP government will expand $10-a-day childcare to more families and open a new medical school to train more doctors, nurses and health care professionals.

These are challenging times for so many of us. We need a government that is going to continue to effectively navigate us through this pandemic and put people at the centre of our economic recovery. Let’s keep moving forward, together.”

BC Green Party – Nicole Duncan

Age: not specified
Background: School board trustee, student and parent advocate

Key issues:
“I’m Nicole Duncan, your Green Party candidate for Oak Bay-Gordon Head. I am running with the BC Greens because I believe our elected representatives must be accountable to the people they serve.

The Green Party is the only party that allows Green MLAs to exercise their independent judgement and vote their conscience.

As your Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA, I will work for you. I will collaborate across party lines to prioritize education and health care.

I will support progressive economic policies that meaningfully address climate change while supporting the innovation needed to make our communities stronger and more resilient.”

Communist Party of BC – Florian Castle

Age: 19
Background: Student, activist, socialist

Key issues:
“Key issues for me this election include the pandemic, the climate emergency, the NDP government’s criminal invasion of Wet’suwet’en land, the opioid crisis, the housing crisis, and the ongoing crisis of Capitalism (triggered by but not caused by the pandemic).

These issues are not isolated from one another, however. They are all, in one way or another, symptoms of Capitalism and Colonialism.

Broadly, I believe that socialist and anti-colonial leadership will be necessary to address the many issues that face this province.”

Tim Ford
Tim Ford
Digital staff writer with Victoria Buzz

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