As the clock ticked down toward midnight and the votes were counted on election night Oct. 21, voters in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra found themselves represented by political opposites: a Liberal and a Conservative who will be heading to Ottawa as MPs to join an equally divided parliament.
For Ron McKinnon — whose nice guy image belied a nasty campaign that had Conservatives trading barbs with the Liberals and the NDP hammering the Greens on the national stage — it was a pleasant night in Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, where he never appeared to lose a poll, or his cool, although the numbers stayed close, like they were in many other ridings across the country.
It was Liberal hopeful Sara Badiei across the way in Port Moody-Coquitlam who got all the love from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with visits, selfies and high fives, although McKinnon was on hand for the visits. But she lost her bid while McKinnon snatched victory with a hard-working campaign team, name recognition and good feelings from the success of his Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, which he introduced as a private member’s bill early in his first term in office.
He managed this victory in a riding with strong Conservative support, Nicholas Insley being the Tory standard-bearer, but may have been aided by the NDP’s faltering campaign, led by Christina Gower, a well-spoken activist who nevertheless came up short for progressive votes.
The Greens' Brad Nickason doubled his votes and showed that it’s not impossible for Green candidates to make a strong showing, despite not having the resources of the larger parties.
Conservative Nelly Shin’s victory is a little more difficult to understand, but in a three-way race with Coquitlam Coun. Bonita Zarrillo, who had name recognition, and Badiei, who had dynamism and showed a fighting spirit at all-candidates meetings, somebody had to win. For Port Moody-Coquitlam voters, Shin was in with 333 more votes than the NDP’s Zarrillo, who was considered a favourite going into the race to replace NDP MP Fin Donnelly.
Shin kept up a positive spirit throughout, which may have helped her win, and her mantra about helping people prosper may have struck a chord.
You can say what you want about Shin — that she’s a parachute candidate from Ontario, a social conservative and a political neophyte, who faces an uphill battle in bringing Port Moody-Coquitlam issues to parliament when her party didn’t form government — but her team overcame numerous challenges to earn the top spot.
For one thing, she had to convince Conservatives in the riding that she had the moxie to do the job and was a better choice than Matthew Sebastiani, who maintained that he was blocked for the nomination in the riding.
Many criticized her for not showing up at the student and environmental debates, but her team stayed focused, believing that knocking on doors and getting out the vote on election day was a better way to spend limited time and energy.
They may have been right on that score.
A musician and singer, with experience working in her family’s floral business and as a teacher, Shin will have a steep learning curve when she gets to Ottawa but must give credit for her success to a strong, staunchly-loyal campaign team.
Zarrillo, meanwhile, was hampered by the lack of a clear message that Donnelly was able to use to his advantage in 2015, that the NDP was the best choice for ousting Conservative Stephen Harper.
Zarrillo worked hard, was well positioned to keep the riding for the NDP, showed determination at all-candidates’ meetings, was highly visible in the community and on social media, but with her party not living up to expectations, and leader Jagmeet Singh, a political unknown until recently taking over, Zarrillo, too, faced an uphill battle.
Some of her votes could have been siphoned off by the other progressive parties, and though she still has her council job, it will be little consolation.
As for the Greens' Bryce Watts, he appeared to be a thoughtful and forceful speaker at all-candidates meetings and may be counted on to run again in the future.
Badiei, meanwhile, has the chops to be a strong MP and should run again but may have to take a deep look at where she is living and where she could mostly likely win in a province where federal Liberals generally have a short shelf life.
McKinnon heads back to Ottawa with a Liberal minority government while Shin will be working with a caucus that will be disappointed in failing to win a majority and whose MPs will be looking for answers, and possibly blood.
As for voters, we’ll have to wait and see, but given the regional divisions reinforced by this election, aided by the vitriol and scare tactics used to win votes, expect a restless minority government without a clear focus except for an eye on the next election.
— Diane Strandberg is a long-time news, education and environment reporter for the Tri-City News.
