By David Wiwchar

Johns blasts McNichol for no-shows

Apr 25, 2025 | 10:37 AM

Voters across Vancouver Island are blasting their Conservative candidates for not showing up to public all-candidates events.

Courtenay-Alberni Conservative Kris McNichol refused to attend two local all-candidates events in Port Alberni, and multiple events throughout the riding.

NDP incumbent Gord Johns says McNichol’s absence sends a poor message about him, his party, and politics as a whole.

“Kris McNichol has not come out and spoken publicly about his positions,” said Johns. “People need to know the answers before they can make an informed decision. These are difficult issues that are brought up at these debates and they require somebody actually showing up and sitting in the seat to answer. Why is he avoiding taking on these questions when he knows that this is a very, very close race between the NDP and Conservatives in this riding? It’s disgusting; it’s an affront to democracy and it’s the bare minimum expectation of a candidate for federal office.”

McNichol has held private meetings in Nanoose where people were asked to register, and if selected they would receive a detailed invitation.

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Saanich Conservative Cathie Ounsted admitted to the Victoria Times-Colonist that her party would prefer that its candidates not participate in all-candidates forums.

Island political scientists say the non-attendance is disrespectful and troubling, as politicians have an obligation to engage in discussions with both supporters and voters who didn’t vote for them, and they should be doing that before they are elected as well as afterwards.

Meanwhile, two national polls are predicting a Conservative victory in Courtenay – Alberni.

poliwave.com says Kris McNichol has 37.7% of the vote while the NDP’s Gord Johns has 36.2% and the Liberals Brian Cameron 19.6%

smartvoting.ca says McNichol has 48%, Johns has 33% and Cameron 13%

Advance voting saw record turnout ahead of Monday’s general election.

Photo: Kris McNichol informed the ADSS Social Justice class that he would not be attending their all-candidates meeting. Liberal Brian Cameron was in Victoria with Prime Minister Mark Carney and PPC candidate Thomas Gamble said he had an appointment.

(Note: We reached out multiple times to McNichol’s campaign for comment, but did not receive a reply to our questions)