BC Candidates

There are 205 candidates running for election in British Columbia on Monday. British Columbia has only 36 seats in Canada's 308 seat parliament (4 fewer than we would get with fair representation by population). All ridings have at least 4 candidates seeking to become a Member of Parliament, 14 ridings have 5 candidates, and Cariboo-Prince George, Nanaimo-Alberni, Surrey North and Vancouver-Kingsway have 8 candidates.

Initially the Conservatives, Greens, Liberals and NDP were the only parties to run candidates in all 36 constituencies. Both the Liberals and Conservatives renounced one of their candidates, although too late for the party name to be stripped from their candidate's name on the ballot. In both cases, the candidates say they are continuing to campaign despite the loss of their leader's support.

In addition to one candidate listed as "no affiliation" and 11 as independents, there are 12 registered parties represented on the ballot for one constituency or another throughout BC. It is a safe bet that only Conservatives, New Democrats and Liberals will be elected, but BC did break the mold in 2004 by electing Chuck Cadman as an independent. It is hard to say whether the 97 candidates from the also-ran parties think they stand a long chance of being elected or whether they simply want to take the opportunity to have a voice at all-candidate meetings and other forums throughout the campaign; the same can be said of representatives of the "major" parties in ridings where there are two-way races or "safe" Conservative seats. The political party financing rules brought in after the last election, provide financing for the political parties between elections equal to approximately $1.79 per year for each vote received provided they receive at least 2% of all votes in Canada or at least 5% of the votes in each constituency where they run candidates. Apart from what motivates candidates in challenging ridings, the financing formula may motivate the parties and a handful of voters who understand it.