NDP minority survives highstakes Nanaimo byelection with Malcolmson win

CTV News has declared New Democrat Sheila Malcolmson the winner of a highstakes provincial byelection in Nanaimo, B.C., potentially sparing her party’s fragile minority government from an early election. With 90 of 111 polls reporting, Malcolmson had some 8,800 votes--about half of the votes counted and about 1,500 more than Liberal rival Tony Harris. Green candidate Michele Ney had 1,317 votes at that time. ”Our positive message, the work that’s been done to already lift people up in just a year and half—we’re so encouraged to be able to keep that work on and it would not have happened without you,” Malcolmson said at the NDP’s headquarters, thanking her supporters and staff as well as the other candidates who ran in the byelection. The MLA-elect reiterated some of the party’s campaign priorities, including building affordable housing and improving child care. “We’ve got a lot of work left to do,” she said. “We are going to work together to tackle the issues that we face. I am so honoured to have served with Leonard Krog as MLA. I’m so honoured to carry his work on.” With Malcolmson as the new MLA for Nanaimo, the NDP and Greens will have a combined 44 seats over the Liberals’ 42, bolstering the government’s hold on the legislature. The NDP and Green parties signed an agreement following the 2017 provincial election that toppled the Liberals and allowed the New Democrats to form a minority government. Source: bc.ctvnews.ca