Category Archives: Canada

#VanPoli | Kareem Allam | Unifying Vancouver

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According to the last census, there are 662,248 citizens who call Vancouver home.

54.5% of Vancouver’s population, or 354,615 people, belong to one of Vancouver’s 201 visible-minority communities.

The Chinese community is by far Vancouver’s largest single ethnic/cultural-origin group, with 159,080 people — roughly one Vancouver resident in four. The latest census puts the Chinese population at 168,385, or 25.9% of the long-form population.

There are another 378,000 citizens in Vancouver whose ethnic origins are not part of the visible minority population: with the largest of these non-visible minority  populations represented by the English (84,370), Scottish (69,200) and Irish (65,695).

Taken together, those four origins account for more than 378,000 reported origins, although, again, many people report more than one origin.

According to the latest census, as above, Vancouver has 354,615 people identified by Statistics Canada as belonging to a visible-minority population, again (as reported above) representing 54.5% of Vancouver’s 662,248-person overall population.

The disparity in numbers between Vancouver’s Census Canadian population of  662,248 Vancouver citizens, and the 742,615 figure that is a combination of the visible and non-visible ethnic populations may be accounted for by the fact that many Vancouverites who reported out in the most recent Statistics Canada census identified as being members of more than one ethnic community.

Chinese residents accounted for 159,080; South Asians 44,850; Filipinos 38,605; Southeast Asians 20,585; Latin Americans 18,080; West Asians 12,100; Koreans 10,895; Japanese 10,990; and Black residents 8,515.

The chart below shows Vancouver’s visible minority populations by ethnic group, the Vancouver neighbourhoods where most reside, the population numbers, and the percentage of the population each community comprises within the City of Vancouver.

Rank Ethnic/cultural origin Population % of Vancouver
1 Chinese 159,080 24.02%
2 English 84,370 12.74%
3 Scottish 69,200 10.45%
4 Irish 65,695 9.92%
5 German 45,215 6.83%
6 Filipino 38,885 5.87%
7 Canadian 33,685 5.09%
8 French, n.o.s. 30,625 4.62%
9 Indian (India) 27,765 4.19%
10 British Isles, n.o.s. 21,545 3.25%
11 Italian 21,155 3.19%
12 Ukrainian 20,000 3.02%
13 Vietnamese 17,450 2.63%
14 Polish 15,900 2.40%
15 Russian 14,135 2.13%
16 Dutch 13,330 2.01%
17 Japanese 13,320 2.01%
18 European, n.o.s. 11,990 1.81%
19 Spanish 11,605 1.75%
20 Jewish 11,555 1.74%
21 Korean 11,470 1.73%
22 Asian, n.o.s. 11,330 1.71%
23 Caucasian (White), n.o.s. 11,105 1.68%
24 Norwegian 10,125 1.53%
25 Iranian 9,440 1.43%
26 Taiwanese 9,355 1.41%
27 Welsh 9,255 1.40%
28 Hong Konger 8,560 1.29%
29 Swedish 8,270 1.25%
30 Mexican 7,855 1.19%
31 American 7,565 1.14%
32 Portuguese 6,535 0.99%
33 Punjabi 6,100 0.92%
34 Hungarian 5,615 0.85%
35 Greek 5,475 0.83%
36 Danish 4,890 0.74%
37 Austrian 4,710 0.71%
38 French Canadian 4,070 0.61%
39 Croatian 3,580 0.54%
40 Persian 3,510 0.53%
41 Romanian 3,370 0.51%
42 Sikh 3,225 0.49%
43 Finnish 2,775 0.42%
44 Hindu 2,685 0.41%
45 African, n.o.s. 2,660 0.40%
46 Icelandic 2,525 0.38%
47 South Asian, n.o.s. 2,460 0.37%
48 Turkish 2,350 0.35%
49 Belgian 2,160 0.33%
50 Eastern European, n.o.s. 2,065 0.31%

In 2022, turnout at the polls in the last civic election, 36.3% of eligible Vancouver voters cast a ballot at the polls during the last municipal election.

Looking specifically at Vancouver civic elections using the City’s/BC CivicInfo’s reported turnout among eligible or registered voters, the trend is quite clear: turnout rose sharply from 2011 to 2014, fell in 2018, and fell again in 2022.

Election Ballots cast Eligible/registered voters Turnout
2022 171,494 472,665 registered 36.3%
2018 176,450 448,322 estimated eligible 39.4%
2014 181,707 429,390 estimated eligible 43.4%
2011 144,823 — 35.0%

In 2022, The City of Vancouver’s official final results report 171,494 ballots cast from 472,665 registered voters, producing a 36.3% turnout. The City’s subsequent election review confirms the 36.3% figure.

If you’re looking at this in the context of the 2026 Vancouver election, the really interesting question is what the turnout would look like if members of the city’s 201 visible minority ethnic/cultural communities voted at anything approaching the participation rates of the broader electorate. That could materially change the electoral math.

That is the subject matter of today’s VanRamblings post: in 2026, what would the election outcome in the City of Vancouver look like were members of the alienated, disenfranchised visible minority population of our city to cast their ballot at the advance polls on October 3rd, 7th, 10th and 13th, and on Election Day, Saturday, October 17th?

Which is not to say that Kareem Allam and the Vancouver Liberals have not reached out to members and Vancouver citizens in all 264 distinct ethnic communities, as can be seen in the chart above, from persons whose heritage hails from Great Britain / the British Isles / Scotland / Wales / and Ireland. Not to mention, France, the western European countries, Poland and the other countries in the Eastern Bloc, as well as citizens who lives originated in South America, Australia,  and across the globe.

Kareem Allam and the Vancouver Liberals want  your vote next month!

East Vancouver Voter Turnout in 2022

Defined by the City of Vancouver local areas east of Ontario Street, where most of the visible minority ethnic populations reside — Strathcona, Grandview-Woodland, Hastings-Sunrise, Downtown Eastside, Mount Pleasant East, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Renfrew-Collingwood, Riley Park East, Sunset, and Victoria-Fraserview — voter turnout, on average, was anywhere from 22% to 28%, with some polls reporting voter participation, ranging from 38% to 42%.

The list of Vancouver political candidates drawn from minority communities seeking elected office in Vancouver in 2026, by party affiliation, was compiled by the Coalition Against Bigotry-Pacific

Kareem Allam and the Vancouver Liberals are working towards getting out the vote on Vancouver’s east side, and in south Vancouver, setting a new record for voter participation in these neighbourhoods, to give every community a voice at Vancouver City Hall. That is the solemn commitment the Vancouver Liberals are making to the citizens of Vancouver in the 2026 municipal election, as they reach out to members of the 264 distinct ethnic communities who live across Vancouver, to young people, to seniors, to folks who are members of the New Democratic Party, the Conservatives, the Green Party, and more.

West Side of Vancouver Turnout in 2022

The lowest participation rate on Vancouver’s West Side occurred in Fairview and Marpole, where voter turnout drops to 31%–35%. This reflects lower homeownership rates and a higher proportion of transient renters compared to the single-family enclaves further west.

As reported in The Georgia Straight, based on data provided by the City of Vancouver, in the 2022 Vancouver municipal election, the single highest voter participation percentage on the West Side recorded occurred in Shaughnessy and Dunbar-Southlands, peaking at 52%–55% on average in each Vancouver municipal election since 2011.

In 2022, a full 63.7% of eligible voters failed to cast a ballot in that year’s Vancouver municipal election.

What would happen if a Vancouver municipal party, and a candidate for Mayor of the City of Vancouver, set out 15 months ago to meet with representatives of the alienated and disenfranchised voters in these communities, specifically on Vancouver’s East Side, meeting with members of each of these 201 visible minority communities who, traditionally, have not voted in Vancouver’s civic elections?

Well, that is exactly what Kareem Allam, the Vancouver Liberals Mayoral candidate in the 2026 Vancouver municipal election set out to do 15 months ago.

Over the course of the past 457 days, Kareem Allam and his Vancouver Liberals campaign staff have met with representatives of these alienated, disenfranchised 201 visible minority communities, in their homes and at their community gatherings, and have built a Get Out The Vote (GOTV) army of more the 2,000 Vancouver citizens — across all 264 distinct ethnic communities — who have committed to Kareem Allam and the Vancouver Liberals that each will get 10 or more members of their nuclear and extended families, as well as their friends, neighbours and work colleagues who constitute members of their community, to the polls to cast a ballot for Kareem Allam and the Vancouver Liberals.

Which means that in 2026, Vancouver could see the highest turnout / voter participation rate ever in a Vancouver civic election, emerging as the difference maker in 2026 that will thrust Kareem Allam and the Vancouver Liberals into civic power at Vancouver City Hall, post this year’s October 17th Vancouver municipal election.

In 2015, in the Canadian federal election, 17,711,983 Canadian voters out of a total of  25,939,742 eligible voters — or 68.3% of eligible Canadian voters cast a ballot in that critical federal election — thrust Justin Trudeau into office as the 43rd Prime Minister of Canada, and the Liberal Party of Canada into comfortable majority government status, dramatically defeating Stephen Harper and the Conservatives after 10 years in power.

Average percentage voter turnout over Harper’s 10 years in power was 58.8%.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were elected to 184 seats in Parliament in 2015, while Stephen Harper’s Conservatives secured only 99 seats, 67 fewer seats than when the Conservatives won 166 seats in 2011 and Stephen Harper won a majority government.

According to Research Co., Angus Reid and other polling companies, 62.7% of Vancouver voters want change.

Vancouver Liberals | The most ethnically and politically diverse group of candidates in Vancouver

Change. VanRamblings believes, as was the case in the 2015 federal election, that is exactly what we’re going to get come the evening of Saturday, October 17, when the percentage of eligible voter participation rate in this year’s Vancouver municipal election will rise from the 36.3% turnout rate in 2022, to more than a record 45% voter participation rate in the 2026 Vancouver civic election — based on a radically increased turnout of previously alienated and disenfranchised voters in Vancouver’s visible minority population, who will flood to the polls to elect a Vancouver unity government of civic reconciliation, thrusting Kareem Allam into the Mayor’s office and electing a majority Vancouver Liberals civic government at Vancouver City Hall come the evening of Saturday, October 17, a responsible and responsive, activist civic administration, delivering services for the people of Vancouver, while keeping taxes low.

Vancouver, then, may look forward to a Kareem Allam-led “let’s get ‘er done” Vancouver Liberals civic administration serving the interests of all of us who call Vancouver home, a Kareem Allam-led government delivering for us, holding power and gaining the respect of Vancouver residents in every one of Vancouver’s 23 neighbourhoods through until Vancouver’s next municipal election in 2030 — and, perhaps, beyond.

 

#VanPoli | COPE Candidate for Mayor, Stephanie Allen, Withdraws from Race to Become City’s Next Mayor

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Full text of COPE’s candidate for Mayor Stephanie Allen’s speech to a press conference delivered Sept. 2nd in Helen Gutteridge Plaza at Vancouver City Hall.

Good morning,

I offer my acknowledgement of the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, to their peoples who have stewarded these lands for 1000s of years. I offer my commitment to working in good relations towards our collective liberation from colonial systems.

Today, I am here together with my colleagues and loved ones to announce that, for the good of all people living in Vancouver, we have decided as a team to withdraw my candidacy for Mayor of Vancouver.

In May, our membership nominated me as part of a slate to win the City — to evict Ken Sim and ABC and achieve a COPE-led democratic socialist municipal government.

For now, we have not been able to achieve all of our goals.

But this movement isn’t about me or about COPE.

It’s about the people of Vancouver.

And the people need us to defeat this right-wing government and reduce the harm being done by the sociopathic system we’re up against.

So while I am announcing the end of my campaign for Mayor, I am also here today to recommit to our common fight for Vancouver.

Ken Sim and ABC must be evicted on October 17th.

That’s why I am strongly encouraging the other mMayoral candidates in the race to also do the right thing, show integrity, and narrow the Mayoral field to the person best positioned to evict Ken Sim.

Earlier this year, COPE and progressive parties struck an agreement to limit candidates and create a path towards a single Mayor. We have come to the moment where we at COPE have made our decision.

It has been the privilege of a lifetime to stand as the Mayoral candidate for COPE, a party with the deepest history of fighting the power of the super rich and showing up for the poor and working class people in our city.

COPE is a party dedicated to telling the truth. We are a diverse cohort of shared purpose. We have the lived experience, academic accomplishments, systemic analysis, and practical knowledge to examine the problems facing our city at the root cause level and to craft policies that will create lasting solutions.

But just as importantly, we at COPE have the love to care about the struggles that families, seniors, youth, working people and ALL those who have been pushed to the margins are going through, and we can see how much worse it’s getting for everyone.

We will not put our egos ahead of doing the right thing for Vancouver.

We know that it is mission critical to have one Mayor on the progressive side and that it has to be the person best positioned at this critical hour, to win the election.

We need a majority progressive Council, School Board, and Park Board to undo the damage done by this bad Mayor and the bad Mayors that came before him.

By stepping aside, we are showing to the people of Vancouver that we have heard you, that we will put you first, and that our commitment is to the long haul. Our movement will keep going, we will never give up the fight for a free and just society grounded in principles of care and community over greed and inequality.

Vancouver, we are here to do the right thing for you and we will keep doing the right thing. Getting a progressive majority on Council will have a direct positive material impact on the lives of people in our city.

And while we do that vital harm reduction through our existing electoral systems, we will stay relentless in dreaming up replacement systems. Ones that are restorative of people and planet, not extractive and exploitative. Ones that value life over profit, care over consumption, and healing over abuse and punishment.

The super-rich are planning our extinction. It’s obvious now. They don’t care about us, about the future generations to come, the climate, wildlife and natural habitat. All they see are ways to squeeze humanity and nature for the sake of piling more billions into their vaults.

You take care of your neighbours. It’s been an honour to speak to so many people over these last months who understand the threat facing our city, and our world. You have shared with me your stories, your frustrations, and your dreams of better.

Local shopkeepers, non-profit leaders, co-op housing members, people working in the gig economy, those who have and are being displaced from homes they love, advocates and organizers.

YOU are the ones with the solutions.

You have done the work to get food to the households that need it, help people recover from addictions and get the therapeutic support they need.

You are the ones who put in all the work to develop affordable homes, protect women and children fleeing violence, and care for seniors on low incomes. You make sure kids are protected from the cruelty in our society.

You also make this city cool with your dedication to the arts and culture scene in this city, with comedy festivals, activating parks and event venues with live music, theatre, and visual arts productions.

It is we, the people, who have the power. We always have, and we always will. Promise me, you’ll never lose sight of that.

So, as I leave the Mayoral race I want to say:

To Vancouver, you are worth fighting for … and this building, City Hall, is your house. Do not vote for anyone who would disrespect you or take you for granted in your house. Send ABC a message that their politics of division and selling out to the super rich are done.

To my fellow candidates, and the COPE staff, volunteers, and membership, thank you for the trust you put in me to carry our message to the city.

For your dedication to a better world, and for showing up everyday challenging yourselves and all of us to dream of a better future for our city. Despite all the things, I have never served alongside a better group of people anywhere. We’re in this now, I’m not going anywhere, we still got this ‘cuz we got each other.

To my friends and supporters, my family, my husband …  thank you for being there with your calls, texts, donations, hugs, so many hugs …and showing up when I didn’t expect you but absolutely needed you. Doing this work was only possible because of your love and care.

To our ancestors, all those who came before us and fought for us to have the freedoms we have now, freedoms you never saw, thank you for what you sacrificed and for dreaming of a better world for us.

To the future generations, we won’t let you down. We will stop climate change, eliminate poverty and homelessness, and make love and compassion the foundation of the structures that govern our lives.

In solidarity, and dedication to an affordable and just city and for a better world, I offer my sincere appreciation and love.

#VanPoli | VOTE for Solomon Yi-Kieran | A New Generation Steps Forward in Vancouver

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At a time when municipal politics can sometimes look like an old person’s game, Solomon Yi-Kieran represents something Vancouver badly needs: a younger generation prepared not merely to complain about politics, but to enter the arena and try to change it.

Power structures across the country are often dominated by older cohorts, leaving younger residents feeling that the issues directly shaping their futures — from soaring living costs to climate resilience — are addressed with passive incrementalism rather than urgency. It is precisely why having young leaders come forward to run for elected office is so critical.

Young candidates bring a essential perspective to local government. They carry the lived experience of navigating today’s acute housing crisis, reliance on public transit, and the precarity of the modern economy. Rather than viewing policies through abstract statistics, young representatives experience the direct impact of municipal decisions every day.

At 20 years old, Yi-Kieran — who identifies as they/them — represents a rising generation of community organizers who refuse to wait on the sidelines.

Stepping up to bring that exact energy and perspective to local government is Solomon Yi-Kieran is running for Vancouver City Council with the The Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) in the October 17 municipal election. Still in their early 20s, they are among the youngest candidates seeking a seat on Council — and their résumé is already unusually substantial for someone so young.

Yi-Kieran graduated from Glenlyon Norfolk School in Victoria in 2023. While still in high school, they were accepted into Oxford University’s history and politics programme, but ultimately chose to attend the University of British Columbia.

At the University of British Columbia, Yi-Kieran is an Arts student studying History and Linguistics, with a particular interest in history and education. They have said their long-term ambition is to become a high-school history teacher.

Their political education, however, has taken place as much outside the classroom as inside it.

Despite their young age, Yi-Kieran already boasts a track record as a public advocate and student leader. Yi-Kieran has been deeply involved in UBC student politics, serving as a student senator and, more recently, as Vice-President External Affairs of the Alma Mater Society, representing more than 61,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

Yi-Kieran has advocated for improved accessibility and academic accommodations, recorded lectures, affordable student housing, greater financial assistance and more transparent university governance.

 

Their activism extends beyond campus.

Yi-Kieran has worked with the BC NDP, participated in campaigns involving affordable sexual-health services and humanitarian assistance, and organized advocacy for a federal Youth Climate Corps. That campaign ultimately helped secure $40 million for youth climate employment.

Yi-Kieran’s background in activism is rooted in tangible, grassroots organizers’ campaigns:

  • Public Transit Expansion: As AMS VP External, they spearheaded the high-profile campaign to extend the Millennium Line SkyTrain route directly to UBC, organizing rallies and leading a petition that gathered over 15,000 signatures to press provincial and municipal governments into action.

  • Student & Tenant Advocacy: They have consistently organized around tenant rights, pushing for tenant protections in student residence housing and lobbying for increased non-market and below-market housing options in the University Endowment Lands.

  • Climate & Youth Empowerment: Through coalition work with student unions across British Columbia, Yi-Kieran campaigned for the establishment of a national Youth Climate Corps.

Running on the progressive COPE platform, Yi-Kieran’s Council campaign focuses on systemic challenges:

  1. Housing Affordability & Tenant Protection: Expanding non-market, social, and co-op housing, alongside strong rent-control protections to keep renters from being priced out of Vancouver.

  2. Public Transit & Infrastructure: Accelerating major regional transit extensions like the UBC SkyTrain corridor and ensuring accessible, frequent municipal transit options.

  3. Climate Action & Green Jobs: Supporting local climate initiatives, including clean energy transitions and workforce opportunities for young people in sustainability.

  4. Labour & Accessibility Reforms: Championing worker rights, accessibility accommodations, and transparent civic governance that invites broader public participation.

Yi-Kieran’s campaign offers Vancouver voters a chance to bring a fresh, community-driven voice to Vancouver City Hall — one that understands the pressing realities facing the city’s youth, renters, and working residents.

Perhaps their most visible campaign has been the fight for a SkyTrain extension to UBC. As AMS vice-president external, Yi-Kieran spearheaded a petition that gathered more than 10,000 signatures and pressed provincial and federal governments to move forward on the long-promised project.

Now Yi-Kieran wants to take that activism to Vancouver City Hall.

There is a tendency on the left to approach issues on a macro scale, to fight for systemic change that makes a difference for the better in the lives of groups of our disenfranchised population, whose voices are neither heard nor respected.

Sometimes in such a circumstance, there is a tendency to lose touch with the individual needs of members of the community, of families, of Vancouver’s new immigrant or ethnic populations, of individual seniors and students.

From VanRamblings’ personal experience, we are here to tell you that in addition to working on a macro scale for systemic change, Solomon Yi-Kieran also connects — really connects — on a micro scale, that is, they see you, feel you, empathize with you, hear your concerns, and will work with you one-on-one to make the conditions of your life better, to work with you to resolve your issues of concern.

Something else to mention about Solomon Yi-Kieran, for which again we have first hand salutary experience: Solomon is kind.

Sadly, a commodity in short supply in politics.

In an era where political discourse is often dominated by divisiveness, hostility, and polarization, the concept of kindness might seem quaint or naïve.

When we examine the foundational purpose of politics — the organization of society for the common good — kindness emerges as a practical and necessary value.

At its core, kindness represents empathy, respect, and a genuine concern for others. When woven into the fabric of political practices, kindness fosters collaboration, promotes inclusivity, and enables the pursuit of justice and equality.

When you cast your ballot for Solomon Yi-Kieran this October, and when they are elected to Vancouver City Council, you will come to find that there is no stronger advocate for you on City Council than Solomon Yi-Kieran, whose boundless energy, heartbreaking intelligence, inspiring presence in your life, and dedication to improving the conditions of your life will always be the driving force and central feature of their time in municipal governance at Vancouver City Hall.

Their platform emphasizes affordable housing, rents, better and eventually free public transit, government transparency and accountability, and making Vancouver a city in which young people can afford to build a life. They have called for reviving the City’s Renters Office, and establishing a climate defense strategy.

 

Solomon has emerged as one of COPE’s leading voices opposing proposed artificial-intelligence data centres in Vancouver, calling for a moratorium until their environmental, water, electricity, employment and privacy implications are properly understood.

But Yi-Kieran’s candidacy is about more than any particular policy.

Canadian politics — and especially municipal politics — can become dominated by people who have been around for decades. Experience matters, certainly. But so does having people in government who will live with the consequences of today’s decisions for another 50 or 60 years.

Young politicians bring a different perspective. They experience the housing crisis as renters rather than homeowners. They depend upon public transit. They confront the realities of precarious employment, student debt, climate change and an increasingly digital economy firsthand.

Yi-Kieran’s campaign offers Vancouver voters a chance to bring a fresh, community-driven voice to City Hall — one that understands the pressing realities facing the city’s youth, renters, and working residents.

They also bring something politics desperately needs: a sense of urgency.

#BCPoli | Kerry-Lynne Findlay, BC Conservatives | Is The Maple MAGA Leader Unfit To Become Premier?

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Kerry-Lynne Findlay, the new B.C. Conservative Party leader

The Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove: The Ascent of Kerry-Lynne Findlay

On May 30, 2026, the Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver played host to an ideological tug-of-war that would reshape the political landscape of British Columbia. When the fourth and final ballot of the Conservative Party of BC leadership race settled, Kerry-Lynne Findlay emerged victorious. But the crown she inherited is heavy, fractured, and forged in the fires of an intense internal civil war.

Ms. Findlay, a 71-year-old veteran of the Stephen Harper era, successfully positioned herself as a “conservative by conviction, not by convenience,” rallying a base that favoured a hard-right ideological shift over centrist moderation.

Yet, as she takes the helm of the province’s Official Opposition, her victory is over-shadowed by a razor-thin mandate, serious federal compliance investigations, and deep fractures within her own ranks.

A Razor-Thin Mandate from the Hinterlands

To understand the challenge ahead for Ms. Findlay is to understand just how narrow her path to victory truly was. Her battle against political commentator and former BC United vice-president Caroline Elliott was an absolute photo finish.


For VanRamblings (and her leadership campaign manager, Kory Teneycke), it is almost impossible to believe that a competent, articulate, younger, electable Caroline Elliott lost to Kerry-Lynne Findlay

As provincial affairs columnist Vaughn Palmer noted in the Vancouver Sun, Ms. Findlay topped Ms. Elliott by a mere 60 raw votes out of more than 22,000 ballots cast. Under the party’s riding-weighted system, this translated to a 51% to 49% victory — the narrowest possible margin for democratic legitimacy.

More telling than the margin is the geographic and demographic divide it exposed:

  • The Urban-Rural Split: Ms. Findlay’s victory was not built in the urban or suburban centres of the Lower Mainland. In Vancouver proper, she captured just 17% of first-round support, and only 14% in West Vancouver-Sea-to-Sky;
  • The Northern Surge: Her true base of power lay in the northern, rural, and resource-dependent heartlands. In ridings like Stikine-Bulkley Valley — a region dotted with heavily Christian towns and areas deeply entangled in resource development debates — Ms. Findlay dominated, capturing 59% of the vote.

By rejecting the more centrist visions put forward by her former rivals — current MLA Peter Miloba, former BC Liberal MLA Iain Black, and Ms. Elliott herself — Ms. Findlay consolidated a populism rooted outside the major metropolitan areas.

The Ghost of 2025: Elections Canada Allegations

Compounding the structural divisions within her party is a serious external vulnerability. Ms. Findlay enters her provincial leadership under a distinct legal and ethical cloud stemming from her recent political past.

During the 2025 federal election, Ms. Findlay lost her seat as the Member of Parliament for South Surrey — White Rock. However, the fallout from that campaign continues to loom large. An ongoing Elections Canada investigation features severe allegations regarding her campaign’s financial and operational conduct:

The Allegations Under Investigation:

  • Undeclared Corporate Benefits: It is alleged that Ms. Findlay’s campaign received $75,000 in undeclared and unpaid services from a private corporation;
  • Quid Pro Quo: Investigators suggest these corporate services were provided in exchange for promises of lucrative federal contracts down the road;
  • Foreign National Canvassing: Perhaps most damagingly, the investigation further suggests that approximately 50 individuals described as foreign nationals without legal status actively canvassed on behalf of Ms. Findlay during the campaign. Ms. Findlay has dismissed the investigation as standard political friction, but the potential for formal sanctions provides constant ammunition for her political opponents.

Pulling the Party to the Right: The Culture War Focus

In a comprehensive profile for the online journal The Tyee, journalist Jen St. Denis highlighted the fundamental shift occurring under the new leadership, run under the stark headline: Findlay Pulls BC Conservatives to the Right.

Ms. Findlay’s platform leans heavily into “faith, family, and freedom,” a rhetorical framework that critics argue mirrors American-style populist movements. Observers describe her as a Trump-adjacent “MAGA Maple” figure, highly focused on divisive culture war issues rather than traditional policy consensus.

The Battle Over SOGI 123

A central pillar of Ms. Findlay’s ideological brand is her fierce opposition to the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI 123) curriculum implemented in British Columbia schools. Ms. Findlay has campaigned on entirely dismantling the programme, aligning herself with anti-trans and parental rights groups.

This position puts her in direct opposition to empirical academic research.

A landmark study led by Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, a professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), demonstrated that SOGI 123 has proved highly effective. Dr. Saewyc’s findings revealed that SOGI-inclusive education successfully reduced bullying and sexual orientation discrimination across B.C. schools, yielding safer environments for both LGBTQ+ and heterosexual students alike.

By entirely rejecting Dr. Saewyc’s findings, Ms. Findlay has signaled that ideological alignment takes precedence over academic consensus.

A House Divided: Internal Purges and Controversial Allies

Upon seizing the leadership, Ms. Findlay wasted no time restructuring the party in her own image, executing an uncompromising internal purge. She immediately fired all legislative and party staff who had any lingering connections to the former BC United / BC Liberal apparatus or its former leader, Kevin Falcon.

Furthermore, Ms. Findlay’s inner circle and candidate roster have drawn intense scrutiny for harboring far-right, anti-vaccine, and conspiracy-driven viewpoints.

The Inner Circle

  • Brent Chapman: Findlay’s own husband, now the MLA for Surrey South, has a well-documented history of controversy. During the 2024 provincial election campaign, a series of his historical social media posts were unearthed, revealing deeply Islamophobic and racist content that generated widespread public condemnation;
  • Sheldon Clare (House Leader): Ms. Findlay appointed the MLA for Prince George-North Cariboo as her newly minted House Leader. Mr. Clare, a reserve army officer and the former president of the National Firearms Association (NFA), briefly ran for the leadership himself before dropping out to back Ms. Findlay. He brings a brand of staunchly uncompromising, hard-right gun-rights populism to the legislative floor;
  • Heather Maahs (Leader of the Opposition): Because Ms. Findlay does not currently hold a seat in the BC Legislature, she cannot personally serve as the Leader of the Official Opposition. To fill this vital constitutional role, she bypassed proven, moderate legislative leaders like former interim leader Trevor Halford and former House Leader Áʼa:líya Warbus — a move provincial affairs columnist Vaughn Palmer criticized as dumping seasoned veterans for her hard-right backers. Instead, she installed Heather Maahs, the MLA for Chilliwack North. Maahs, who spent 16 years on the Chilliwack school board, is an unabashed pro-life advocate who recently drew fire for hosting a legislative session with an advocacy group that explicitly regards homosexuality as “immoral.”

This hard-right consolidation has created what former insiders describe as a hostile environment. Former Conservative MLAs Elenore Sturko and Amelia Boultbee both publicly stepped away from the party apparatus, citing a “toxic work environment” driven by ideological extremism, subsequently becoming vocal critics of Findlay’s direction.

The Actuarial Reality of a 2028 Campaign

Beyond the ideological friction, Ms. Findlay faces an inescapable reality: the passage of time. When the next British Columbia provincial election is called in late 2028, Findlay will be entering her 74th year. Should she win and serve a full four-year term as Premier, she would be in her 78th year by its conclusion.

While age alone does not dictate capability, gerontologists and medical institutions like the Mayo Clinic emphasize the compounding physical and cognitive challenges that accompany leadership at this stage of life, as observed globally in political figures like Joe Biden and Donald Trump, or in our 70s as VanRamblings has experienced ourself approaching our 76th birthday, now only 40 days away.

  • Factor: Potential Impact on High-Stress Leadership;
  • Cognitive Function: Gradual declines in cognitive processing speed, reaction time, and the ability to multitask can affect the management of complex, rapid-fire executive daily tasks.;
  • Physical Vitality. A combination of physical fatigue, chronic health conditions (such as arthritis or cardiovascular changes), and sensory declines in vision and hearing that can restrict mobility and lower overall energy reserves;
  • Neurotransmitter Changes: Age-related reductions in serotonin levels that can increase emotional vulnerability, while chronic pain or fatigue can manifest as heightened irritability or agitation under pressure.

Navigating the grueling, 24-hour news cycle of a provincial election and managing a sprawling government requires physical and mental stamina, posing a practical question mark over her long-term tenure.

The Mainstream Disconnect

Would you vote for the woman pictured above to become British Columbia’s 38th Premier?

Ultimately, Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s political future depends on whether her brand of unapologetic populism can survive outside her rural interior voting base.

British Columbia’s electorate has historically favoured a pragmatic, centrist approach to governance. By leaning so heavily into the culture wars, opposing established Indigenous rights frameworks, and platforming fringe rhetoric, Ms. Findlay risks alienating the vital moderate voters of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island — voters who decide majorities.

Ms. Findlay enters the arena significantly weighed down. The cloud of the federal Elections Canada investigation remains unresolved, her internal mandate is mathematically microscopic, and her party is deeply divided after the alienation of its moderate wing.

In a province currently grappling with an acute affordability crisis — where the cost of housing remains out of reach, grocery prices continue to skyrocket across every community, and gas prices pinch working families at the pumps — Ms. Findlay’s intense focus on social grievances risks looks profoundly out of touch.

If the B.C. Conservative Party cannot offer reassuring solutions to the daily economic anxieties of the mainstream voter, Ms. Findlay’s hard-right experiment may find itself entirely rejected at the ballot box in 2028.

Can Kerry-Lynne Findlay successfully expand her narrow rural coalition to win over moderate urban voters in the 2028 provincial election? We’re not so sure.