BC Liberals leader Kevin Falcon to run for seat in Vancouver-Quilchena by-election

At some point this year, voters in the provincial riding of Vancouver-Quilchena will be asked to return to the polls to select a new MLA representing their riding.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former BC Liberals leader Andrew Wilkinson, who vacated the seat last month shortly after Kevin Falcon was elected by party members as the new party leader. Falcon, as the head of the government’s opposition, currently does not have a seat.

Over the past weekend, Falcon formally accepted the nomination to be the party’s candidate for Vancouver-Quilchena.

“For five years, John Horgan and the NDP have failed to deliver on the everyday priorities of British Columbians. As the cost of living continues to increase and everything from rent, to groceries, to gas gets more expensive, the NDP still has no plan to help British Columbians struggling with rising costs,” wrote Falcon on a Facebook post announcing the nomination.

“The hard work starts now as we work to put forward a positive vision for the future of British Columbia.”

Falcon is expected to command a solid victory in Vancouver-Quilchena, which has been held by the BC Liberals without interruption since the riding was first formed in 1991. In each election, the party re-secured its hold on the riding by a wide margin.

In the October 2020 provincial election, Wilkinson won with 56% of the 21,807 votes, followed by the BC NDP’s Heather McQuillan with 28.6% and the Green Party’s Michael Barkusky with 15.4%.

The BC NDP government are required to call a by-election within six months of a riding’s seat being vacated. At the very latest, if the BC NDP were to run the clock and use the full six months, Premier John Horgan would need to call a by-election by the middle of August, with the election then being held about a month later, sometime in September.