Nanaimo-Ladysmith Green Party candidate Paul Manly said he's not concerned about a three-way contest which occurred in 2021 between him, the NDP and Conservatives, happening again. (Kyle Ireland/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

local votes

‘I’m not concerned about it:’ Nanaimo-Ladysmith Greens dismiss vote split worries

Mar 29, 2025 | 2:09 PM

NANAIMO — In a riding where a majority of votes were split three ways back in 2021, the newly minted Green Party candidate is not concerned about a potential repeat.

Paul Manly finished in third place in the last federal election, 2,186 votes behind the NDP’s Lisa Marie Barron, and 987 votes behind second place Conservative Tamara Kronis, with the three candidates accounting for 81.6 per cent of all votes cast in Nanaimo-Ladysmith.

With an unchanged lineup poised to run so far this April, Manly said during a campaign launch event on Saturday, March 29, the prospect of splitting voters not supporting the federal Conservatives was not worrying.

“I’m not concerned about it. The Greens, we’ve done our own polling and they show me coming in second and what we need to do is galvanize people. You want a fighter in the House of Commons that’s going to be providing a strong opposition voice in the House of Commons? Then I’m that person.”

Liberal Michelle Corfield and PPC’s Stephen Welton placed a distant fourth and fifth in 2021, with both again running next month.

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Manly said the Greens are confident in returning an MP to Ottawa from the Nanaimo area, after Manly first won a seat through a by-election in spring 2019, and then through the fall federal election.

He added the supply and confidence agreement between the NDP and Liberals throughout much of the last four years failed to deliver on voting reform through proportional representation, failed to deliver on climate change and did not deliver a fairer taxation landscape.

Since 2021, Manly has transitioned to local politics and earned the most votes during the 2022 municipal election.

He said he’ll juggle his responsibilities as a councillor, as well as a candidate, over the next month.

“I’m going to do as much work on Council as I can, because we’re working on some very important things, so I’ll continue to do that work while I’m running. I’ll still be attending Council meetings.”

He is required to step down should he win, forcing a by-election for Nanaimo City Council.

Manly said MLAs are not required to step down from local government, but he considers it unethical to do both jobs, telling reporters elected officials should “pick your lane”.

His comments came as Green Party co-leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault outlined their platform on what they dubbed the “dumbest trade war ever” between Canada and the United States.

Their strategy includes federal government purchases of Canadian resources instead of having them exported as raw materials overseas.

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