Coquitlam-Burke Mountain MLA-elect Joan Isaacs is walking a cautious line toward what she hopes will be her path to Victoria after a tumultuous Tuesday evening.
Declared the winner of the riding with only 170 votes separating her from BC NDP incumbent Jodie Wickens, Isaacs said wants to wait for the absentee ballots to be counted — and a possible recount — before celebrating.
"I'm apprehensive to make that jump, I want to be very careful," she told The Tri-City News late Tuesday after cheering supporters and a TV station declared her elected.
"But I am optimistically cautious," she added.
It was a teary-eyed Wickens who appeared at Pasta Polo Tuesday, acknowledging it would be two weeks before she would know for sure whether she would hold on to the riding or lose it.
The two political rivals will now have to wait until the absentee votes are counted between May 22 and 24 to get the final results, and a judicial recount could still be in the offing if the vote tally is close.
According to Elections BC, a judicial recount is merited if the difference between the top two candidates — after the final count — is less than 1/500 of the total eligible ballots. Candidates can also apply for a recount if they have concerns.
On election night, Wickens' event was a hive of activity, with party faithful chanting for their candidate, while the mood was more subdued but still festive at Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club, where the Tri-City BC Liberal candidates celebrated their party's narrow victory.
Former Port Moody-Port Coquitlam Conservative MP James Moore, who was at the Plateau party, said he wasn't surprised at the split vote provincially, noting that an incumbent party with 16 years in government faces an uphill battle, calling the election a "knife edge either way."
Probably the calmest candidate following the election that saw the BC Liberal Party and BC NDP within a hair's breadth of each other in the popular vote and seat count was Coquitlam-Burke Mountain Green Party candidate Ian Soutar.
Having doubled the Green Party vote in the riding since the last two provincial elections, including a 2016 byelection, Soutar said he was part of a Green wave that might have foiled the chances of the two major parties gaining a clear majority.
"I'm very pleased how things turned out. Even without moving to official party status, we hold the balance of power. Our party has made some massive sweeps. I like that neither the Liberals nor the NDP are a majority," Soutar said.
Indeed, the close race in Coquitlam-Burke Mountain appears to mirror the provincial outcome, in which Christy Clark and party won 43 of B.C.'s 87 ridings, compared to 41 for the NDP and three for the Green Party. It takes 44 seats to form a majority in B.C., meaning this could force the province's first minority government since 1952.
Soutar said he relishes the opportunity to assist the three Green candidates in strategizing over how to maximize opportunities for the party. In the meantime, he's back at work in the landscaping business and hopes to start his own company soon.
"I've got some serious ideas about how things can play out," Soutar said, acknowledging that he may find himself running again for the Green party, possibly in as little as two years if things don't work out with the current elected government.
Changes have taken place over the years in the riding as more young families move into the area seeking schools and daycare. As recently as 2013, former BC Liberal MLA Douglas Horne could be assured of a comfortable win with 49.9% of the popular vote and a 2,400-vote margin against his closest rival, Chris Wilson, who is now a Coquitlam councillor.
In early 2016, Wickens capitalized on voter frustration with lack of schools and daycare to win a byelection but so far appears to have failed in her bid to keep that seat safe for the NDP against the Isaacs, who stuck to issues such as transportation, the opening of the Evergreen Line and seniors care.
