A host of new faces are lining up to contest local ridings in the 2024 provincial election, scheduled for October. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)

By Alex Rawnsley

provincial election

New candidates announced for new-look Nanaimo & Oceanside provincial ridings

Apr 5, 2024 | 10:07 AM

NANAIMO — New lines are drawn and a slate of new candidates, along with some familiar faces, are already lining up vying for a seat in the legislature for this fall’s provincial election.

The 2024 provincial election is scheduled for Oct. 19, and despite there still being roughly six months remaining before the vote, several candidates from presently opposition parties are making their intensions known.

The B.C. Conservative Party, led by Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad, announced a series of candidates for the three mid-Island ridings of Nanaimo-Gabriola Island, Nanaimo-Lantzville and Ladysmith-Oceanside.

Former Chilliwack NDP MLA Gwen O’Mahony wil run in the the newly-created Nanaimo-Lantzville riding, which includes the northern half of Nanaimo to Snaw-Naw-As First Nation.

O’Mahony has a background in the not-for-profit, government and private sectors and presently runs a consulting firm for small and medium sized businesses on Vancouver Island.

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Former Nanaimo City Council candidate Viraat Thammanna will challenge incumbent NDP MLA Sheila Malcolmson in the re-named and partially re-drawn Nanaimo-Gabriola riding.

Thammanna finished 18th in the 2022 election with 3,100 votes, an increase on the 1,760 he received during the 2018 municipal election.

He is a Canadian Forces veteran at CFB Esquimalt and has been a long-time Nanaimo resident.

A newly amalgamated Ladysmith-Oceanside riding, encompassing three distinct municipalities of Ladysmith, Parksville and Qualicum Beach, has seen two candidates nominated by the party.

In late March, the B.C. Conservatives named Dr. Stephen Malthouse as their challenger to independent MLA Adam Walker.

However, he was removed from the party’s website just hours after being announced due to his very recently and public history of vaccine misinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malthouse, among other claims, previously said vaccines caused magnetism along with other widely debunked statements.

No successor has been announced.

Walker is also due to be challenged by Lehann Wallace representing the BC United party.

Wallace announced her run in February and is currently Electoral Area G Director in the Regional District of Nanaimo.

Current Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA Doug Routley will not seek a sixth term in the Legislature and plans to retire after the October vote.

An interactive map featuring the newly drawn electoral boundaries is available on the Elections BC website.

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