Five candidates vie for Cowichan Valley riding in upcoming provincial election
Nominations officially closed Saturday for the Oct. 19 provincial election, with five candidates vying for the riding of Cowichan Valley.
Elections BC lists the five candidates, in alphabetical order, as: Jon Coleman, unaffiliated; Eden Haythornthwaite, independent; John Koury, Conservative Party; Cammy Lockwood, BC Green Party; and Debra Toporowski, BC NDP.
Distinguishing between independent and unaffiliated, Elections BC says: “Candidates who have registered as independent will appear on the ballot with the word ‘Independent’ listed next to their name. Candidates who have not been endorsed by a party or registered as independent will appear on the ballot with just their name.”
Of the 323 candidates seeking election across BC, 40 are running as independent candidates and 14 as unaffiliated. During the 2020 provincial election, there were 24 independents and no unaffiliated candidates.
Coleman, owner of Jon-Co Contracting and a member of Cowichan Tribes, is a former BC United candidate. https://www.votebcunited.ca/news/jon-coleman-announced-as-bc-united-candidate-for-cowichan-valley/
He made the news in December 2022 after protesting a provincial policy favouring union workers on the new Cowichan District Hospital.
Coleman had said he would consider switching to the Conservatives if asked following BC United’s decision announced Aug. 28 to suspend its election campaign in an attempt to prevent re-election of the NDP.
But the Conservatives held firm with Koury as their choice.
Coleman’s candidacy means two members of the same First Nation are running against each other in the same provincial riding. Toporowski is an elected member of both Cowichan Tribes and North Cowichan council.
More background:
Haythornthwaite: https://www.cowichansocialist24.ca/
Koury: https://www.conservativebc.ca/johnkoury
Lockwood: https://bcgreens2024.ca/your-candidates/cammy-lockwood/
Toporowski: https://debratoporowski.bcndp.ca/
Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau, who has represented Cowichan Valley since 2017, is running in the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill this election.
(Tables: Elections BC)
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