B.C. Liberal leader hopes to gain a seat in legislature through byelection

VANCOUVER — Voters in an upscale Vancouver neighbourhood will head to the polls today in a byelection that could put the new leader of the British Columbia Liberals back in the province’s legislature. 

Kevin Falcon, a former cabinet minister who took the helm of the Opposition party in February, is hoping to represent Vancouver-Quilchena in Victoria.

Former Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson, who won the riding with 56 per cent of the vote in 2020, resigned the seat to clear a way for Falcon to sit in the legislature. 

NDP candidate Jeanette Ashe, a political scientist who’s married to Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, says her campaign has focused on reminding voters that Falcon was a minister when the government made deep spending cuts that still affect the province.