VANCOUVER: As polls close across the country Monday evening and the vote tally begins, a handful of tight races in British Columbia could determine which party seizes power, or whether Canada will have a minority or majority government.
In Vancouver-Granville, incumbent Jody Wilson-Raybould – a one-time Liberal cabinet minister – chose not to seek re-election, opening the door for a tight, three-way race between the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP.
Liberal Taleeb Noormohamed finished second behind Wilson-Raybould in the 2019 race and is running again.
He has faced controversy on the campaign trail after it came to light he bought or sold 30 residential properties in the last decade, 14 of which were sold within a year of their purchase dates.
Those transactions meet the criteria for an “anti-flipping” tax proposed by the Liberals.
Lawyer Kailin Che is running under the Conservative banner, and self-described climate-activist Anjali Appadurai is on the ticket for the NDP.
A handful of other Metro Vancouver ridings that have been close in the recent past appear headed for photo finishes again.
In most federal elections, a winner is declared before most votes on the West Coast are even counted, but with such a close race predicted this time, the rest of the nation may need to turn its eyes to B.C. ridings to find out who holds the balance of power.
If the People’s Party of Canada performs well, it could play spoiler in some tight races, potentially drawing support from the Conservatives.
Meanwhile, the Green Party will be hoping to exceed expectations and pull a share of the progressive vote.
