Vancouver-Quilchena’s final results confirm BC Liberal victory

***Update – On June 7, 2013, Christy Clark announced the new Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services minister will be Andrew Wilkinson, the Vancouver-Quilchena MLA.***

With the final count concluded this afternoon, the results for Vancouver-Quilchena in the BC provincial elections 2013 are as follows:

-Andrew Wilkinson / BC Liberals: 14,496 votes, 64.32%
-Nicholas Scapillati / BC NDP: 5,705 votes, 25.31%
-Damian Kettlewell / BC Green Party: 1,667 votes, 7.40%
-Bill Clarke / BC Conservatives: 671 votes, 2.98%

22,539 people out of 37,501 registered voters went to the polls in Quilchena, which corresponds to a turnout of 60.1 %.
The turnout in B.C. is estimated to be 57.8 %.

Meet Andrew Wilkinson, BC Liberals candidate in Vancouver-Quilchena

Andrew Wilkinson. Photo: BC Liberal Party

Meeting Andrew Wilkinson can be intimidating. The BC Liberals candidate for Vancouver-Quilchena is a tall man in his early fifties, looking like a self-confident leader in spite of his boyish freckles. Moreover, Wilkinson is a political heavyweight, a former deputy minister and party president. Oh, and did I mention he is also a medical doctor and a lawyer?

On the podium, Wilkinson is a polite gentleman and eloquent speaker. And he is competitive.

“Can we turn up the lights?” is the first thing Wilkinson says when

Meet Bill Clarke, Vancouver-Quilchena’s Conservative candidate

Bill Clarke reads the newspaper shortly before the all-candidates debate at Magee Secondary on April 30, 2013. Photo: Katja De Bock

When I enter Magee Secondary School on Tuesday morning, half an hour before the all-candidates debate starts, the theatre is still nearly empty. Bill Clarke is sitting on the stage by himself, reading a newspaper article about Monday’s party leaders’ television debate.

When I ask him for an impromptu interview, he agrees friendly and relaxed, and we get right at it. 

Magee Secondary School’s all-candidates debate

If you think our youth are not interested in politics, think again. Over five hundred students filled the theatre at Magee Secondary School this morning. They came to listen to the all-candidates debate by Vancouver-Quilchena politicians. 

The candidates included Andrew Wilkinson of the BC Liberals, a medical doctor and lawyer who is lucky enough to inherit the Liberal stronghold riding. Matt Toner, BC NDP candidate for Vancouver-False Creek filled in for Nicholas Scapillati, who was double booked. Damian Kettlewell, a third-time candidate, brought strong arguments for the BC Green Party. And four-time MP Bill Clarke represented the BC Conservatives. 

Meet Damian Kettlewell, Green Party candidate for Vancouver-Quilchena

Damian Kettlewell in front of the Vancouver BC Green Party office on 111 West Broadway.

Green Party candidate Damian Kettlewell is one of four candidates campaigning for Quilchena voters in order to win a seat in the legislature. If he succeeds, he will make history, as a first Green Party MLA is yet to be elected in B.C.  

When I arrive early at the opening reception of the first Vancouver Green Party campaign office in a decade, Kettlewell hasn’t arrived yet, but I am greeted by young politicians Matthew Pedley (Vancouver-Fairview), Barinder Hans (V-Mount Pleasant) and Regan-Heng Zhang (V-Langara), chafing at the bit to enter the political arena.

Meet Nicholas Scapillati, Vancouver-Quilchena’s NDP candidate for the 2013 provincial election

Vancouver-Quilchena’s NDP-team. From left: Michael Kushnir, Nicholas Scapillati, Kas Shield. Photo: Katja De Bock

Kerrisdale Village enjoys a new colour on the main shopping block–orange.

When I enter the new NDP office in the former Thomas Hobbs gift store on 41^st Avenue at West Boulevard, I am greeted by the candidate Nicholas Scapillati, his wife Kas Shield, who works as the candidate scheduler and event coordinator, and Michael Kushnir, the campaign manager, who, interestingly, looks like a young Thomas Mulcair.