With the election coming up quickly on Monday, April 28th, it is important to know who is running in your electoral district.
Greater Victoria has four electoral Districts, which are Victoria, Saanich–Gulf Islands, Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke and Cowichan–Malahat–Langford.
Below is a list of all the candidates from major parties running in all four Greater Victoria ridings:
Victoria
The Victoria electoral district has remained largely the same since 1925, when the Victoria City and Nanaimo electoral districts were separated.
Since that time, the riding has seen a mix of Liberal, Conservative and NDP members of Parliament (MPs).
In more recent history, the riding has remained in NDP power since 2008, with Denise Savoie, Murray Rankin and Laurel Collins winning the Victoria riding.
Laurel Collins (incumbent NDP)
She has a background in activism and advocacy for climate action and women’s health. She also taught courses at UVic on Social Inequality, Social Justice Studies, Political Sociology, and the Sociology of Genders.
Collins also served as a city councillor in Victoria, winning her seat in 2018, before giving it up once she won the riding in the 2019 federal election.
Her primary focus in the House of Commons has been on climate action, improving women’s rights, expanding universal healthcare and building affordable housing.
She is running for her third consecutive term this election.
Will Greaves (Liberal)
Greaves is an academic whose research has focussed primarily on climate change, security and arctic politics. He has written several peer-reviewed articles on these matters.
He is the co-founder of the Climate Security Association of Canada, and serves on the Defence Advisory Board to Canada’s Department of National Defence.
Angus Ross (Conservative)
Ross has a background in law enforcement, the Canadian Armed Forces and sat as a municipal councillor in Scugog, Ontario, a small community of just over 22,000.
His focus in this election is on community safety and policing.
Michael Doherty (Green Party)
Doherty is a lawyer by trade who has earned five degrees in law and political science, taught courses across Canada and written several books.
He says about half of his law career has been spent working with groups such as the Sierra Club, the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Ecojustice.
His primary focus ahead of this election is to advance climate action in Canada in order to ensure humanity’s and the earth’s survival.
David Mohr (People’s Party)
Mohr has a background in the Canadian Armed Forces and Navy and he says his primary focus is on ending “child abuse” in Canada.
By child abuse, he refers to the People’s Party’s position on gender ideology, which is anti-transgender.
Saanich–Gulf Islands
This riding has been around since 1988 and has seen a mix of Green Party, Conservative, Reform, Alliance and NDP candidates representing the region in the House of Commons.
More recently, the Green Party has held this seat since 2011, with current co-leader Elizabeth May representing the Saanich–Gulf Islands riding.
Elizabeth May (incumbent Green Party)
May is a strong and vocal advocate for climate action and has had a long career as an environmental advocate.
She has a background in law and worked as the Executive Director of Sierra Club of Canada before making the move to politics, becoming the leader of the Green Party in 2006.
May was the first member of the Green Party to win a seat in the House of Commons.
David Beckham (Liberal)
Beckham has been a resident of Sidney for the last 13 years whose career has primarily focussed on environmental remediation and renewable energy. Additionally, he has managed a farm for over 40 years.
Beckham says he decided to run to protect Canada against American-style privatization.
Colin Plant (NDP)
Plant currently sits on the Saanich municipal council and is the CRD Board Chair. Prior to that he worked as a teacher in the Saanich School District for over 25 years.
Additionally, Plant is a 2SLGBTQI+ advocate, and helped establish Saanich’s LGBTQ committee to advise the municipal council on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion.
His focus in the election is on climate action and preserving the natural beauty of the region.
Cathie Ounsted (Conservative)
Ounsted’s professional background has been in being an appointed member of the Central Saanich Police Board, and she was also elected to the Peninsula Co-Op Board of Directors, the Central Saanich Council and the Victoria Airport Authority Board of Directors.
Additionally, she was a former owner of Red Barn Market, worked as Director of Thrifty Foods and was a reserve constable for VicPD for a short time.
Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke
The Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke riding is a relatively new one, having only been created in 2015.
Since its creation, it has been held by NDP MP Randall Garrison, who announced his retirement ahead of this upcoming election.
Maja Tait (NDP)
Tait currently sits as mayor for the District of Sooke. She has also served several boards and committees since moving to Sooke in 2006, including the Capital Regional District Board, Victoria Regional Transit Commission, and the South Island Reconciliation Advisory Committee.
Tait’s focus in this election will be the same as her priorities for Sooke in her time as mayor: affordable housing, climate action and improving amenities for children and seniors.
Grant Cool (Conservative)
Cool is the Conservative candidate for the region, although it recently came to light that he does not live within the bounds of the Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke electoral district.
Cool’s professional background is in aerospace engineering and he currently co-owns several businesses, including an aircraft design/manufacturing company and some logistics businesses in northern Canada.
He has also served on numerous public boards and associations as a technical and business advisor.
Stephanie McLean (Liberal)
McLean’s background is in law and she formerly served as an Alberta NDP MLA. As an MLA, she spearheaded initiatives such as making Alberta the first province to introduce non-binary identity documents, increasing female representation on the boards of publicly traded companies and implementing protections against predatory lending.
She says her priorities in this election are to protect Canada against Trump and his tariffs, building more homes for British Columbians and growing a strong local economy.
Ben Homer-Dixon (Green Party)
Homer Dixon is 20-years-old and says he wants to be a voice for younger generations of Canadians in the House of Commons.
Currently, he is a first-year Geography student at the University of Victoria.
He says his focus is on environmental policies focused on the intersection of human activity and the natural world, particularly the effects of sea-level rise, flooding and drought on land use.
Cowichan–Malahat–Langford
Another relatively new riding, the Cowichan–Malahat–Langford electoral district has been around since 2015.
Since that time, the riding has been held by the current incumbent NDP candidate.
Alistair MacGregor (incumbent NDP)
MacGregor was born in Victoria and raised in Duncan before pursuing a Masters in Arts from Royal Roads University with a focus on professional communication.
Prior to becoming a candidate for the NDP himself, he worked in NDP constituency offices in both Duncan and Nanaimo.
In his time in Parliament, he has sponsored three private member bills and has served as NDP’s critic for agriculture and agri-food, deputy critic for justice and heritage and deputy critic for justice and human rights.
Jeff Kibble (Conservative)
Kibble has served 28 years in the Royal Canadian Navy and has lived within the riding for the past 14 years.
He says his goals are to “return our nation to a respected, safe, healthy, and financially stable state.”
Blair Herbert (Liberal)
Herbert has worked as an RCMP officer, investigator for the Provincial Ombudsman and Federal Immigration Officer throughout his career.
Additionally, for the last 40 years, he has been a small business operator in real estate.
This will be his third time running as the Liberal candidate for the Cowichan–Malahat–Langford riding.
Kathleen Code (Green Party)
Code worked in the BC Government as an economic development policy analyst for 21 years and has been a part of the Ecoforestry Institute Society as a board member and board chair, helping to protect and steward at-risk areas.
She is a steadfast environmental advocate, playing a role in the Fairy Creek protests and helping those impacted by it.
Code’s priorities for Canada and the region she hopes to represent are in social justice and environmental values.
