News

British Columbia was its usual contrary, electoral self last night, turfing Conservatives, increasing the number of Liberals and doubling NDP representation in the province.

In results that few predicted, given the healthy Conservative lead in opinion surveys in B.C., the Tories were in danger of losing five seats in the province, reducing them to 17 from the 22 seats they held in the last Parliament.

The New Democrats, capitalizing on the party's provincial revitalization under provincial Leader Carole James, appeared set to elect at least nine candidates. They won five B.C. ridings in 2004.

However, their most high-profile candidate, long-time former MP Svend Robinson, went down to defeat in his comeback bid against perennially victorious Liberal incumbent Hedy Fry.

Mr. Robinson was seeking a return to Parliament only 18 months after he resigned from politics after pleading guilty to stealing a ring.

Among the big winners for the New Democrats was former provincial cabinet minister Penny Priddy. She strolled to a surprisingly easy victory in Surrey North, the riding that became famous across the country as the constituency of independent Chuck Cadman.

Mr. Cadman, who won the riding in previous elections under the Reform Party and Canadian Alliance banner, held the balance of power in the last Liberal minority government, until he died last year of cancer.

Ms. Priddy, a survivor of cancer, was close to Mr. Cadman and she was supported during the campaign by his widow, Dona.

Two NDP winners -- Alex Atamanenko in B.C. Southern Interior and Dawn Black of New Westminster-Coquitlam -- captured ridings that had long been held by the Conservatives.

But the Liberal showing in British Columbia was perhaps even more of a surprise.

Against all expectations, the Liberals actually increased their representation in B.C., the only province where that happened. The beleaguered party, which lost its hold on power for the first time in 13 years, elected nine candidates in the province, an increase of one.

Despite predictions they were in tough in their ridings, cabinet ministers David Emerson, the most powerful federal politician in the province, and Raymond Chan held their seats rather easily.

Ujjal Dosanjh, the Health Minister, and Stephen Owen, the Economic Development Minister, were not expected to be threatened, and they were not.

While the Liberals lost Victoria to New Democrat Denise Savoie, Sukh Dhaliwal won Newton-North Delta from the Conservatives, a rare event in the country, and Blair Wilson was leading Conservative John Weston in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast. The riding was previously held by Conservative campaign co-chairman John Reynolds.

However, several cabinet hopefuls for the new Conservative government had no trouble hanging on to their seats.

Leading B.C. Tories with a good chance of being in Stephen Harper's cabinet include Stockwell Day, the party's foreign affairs critic and former Alliance leader; 29-year-old James Moore; party House Leader Jay Hill; and possibly Betty Hinton from Kamloops, who was the first candidate in the province to be declared elected last night.

The province's results revealed a clear rural-urban split, with the Conservatives winning most rural ridings with large majorities but failing to resonate in Vancouver and Victoria.

Gerry Scott, chief campaign strategist for the NDP, said most urban B.C. voters simply did not buy into the Conservative message.

"I think they are increasingly out of touch out here. They are too conservative, basically," said Mr. Scott, who said he had actually hoped for even bigger NDP gains in the province. ". . . Traditional small-c conservatives doesn't cut it here any more, outside of rural B.C."

Strangely, the Conservative popular vote went up marginally to 37.6 per cent, an increase of nearly 1 per cent from 2004. The NDP was up 2 per cent, while the Liberals fell 0.8 per cent. The Green Party vote went down 0.9 per cent to 5.4.

The Conservative spokesman in B.C., Colin Metcalfe, said he was disappointed that the Liberal "fear and smear" campaign appeared to work in some ridings, notably North Vancouver and Richmond, where the Tories ran candidates associated with strong Christian views.

Five fast facts

1

New Democrat Denise Savoie, a former city councillor, won Victoria riding.

2

Veteran Liberal Hedy Fry held on to Vancouver Centre, beating New Democrat Svend Robinson.

3

Former provincial cabinet minister Penny Priddy, a New Democrat, won Surrey North.

4

New Democrats Alex Atamanenko in B.C. Southern Interior and Dawn Black of New Westminster-Coquitlam captured ridings that had long been held by the Conservatives.

5

Liberals Ujjal Dosanjh and Stephen Owen, both ministers in the Martin government, held on to their seats.