NANAIMO — Another year and another election for most local residents who travelled to the ballot box for the sixth time since fall 2018.
It would also signal a return for the riding to the federal NDP, with School District 68 board trustee Lisa Marie Barron unseating incumbent Paul Manly of the Greens.
Barron was new to the ticket and federal politics, with only Liberal Michelle Corfield remaining on the ballot from both the 2019 spring by-election and fall general election. The Conservatives nominated Tamara Kronis, a new Nanaimo resident.
“I could feel a shift happening where I started to get a sense that there was a chance of me winning that election which was very exciting,” Barron told NanaimoNewsNOW in early December.
The 2021 Federal Election to elect Canada’s 44th Parliament was called two years early by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a bid to secure Canada’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Locally, it was a challenge to Green incumbent Paul Manly’s representation of the riding. Early polling suggested it would be a tight three way race between Manly, Barron and Kronis.
Green Party incumbent Paul Manly was looking for a third election win in as many years after flipping the riding in 2019. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)The campaign itself was relatively benign, with a single all-candidates debate where Manly’s effectiveness as a representative, affordability of housing in the region and how Canada should emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
No candidate scored a decisive win, however Manly spent much of the night on the defensive.
“When it really comes down to it we need a party with official party status that has the people and the power to push things forward,” Barron said of Manly during the Sept. 15 debate. “We need more than talk, we need action and solutions that can actually be achieved with a party that can do so.”
In the lead up to the debate, the Nanaimo Greens raised concerns over an NDP-friendly social media advertisement calling for undecided voters to cast ballots for the NDP as the “best way” to beat the Conservatives.
The ad itself did not feature some information required by Elections Canada on political advertisements and was subsequently pulled.
Ottawa-based Advanced Symbolics, credited with conducting the poll, had no knowledge of it when contacted by NanaimoNewsNOW and later issued a statement demanding the ad be removed.
“I am certainly following up with my legal team now that I have received this from you,” Kelly said in mid-September.
This ad purported to be compiled by an Ottawa firm caught the eye of the Nanaimo-Ladysmith Green campaign. (Facebook)Election night itself was an anti-climactic affair. Trudeau’s Liberals secured an early win which returned them to Government, ultimately in a nearly identical setup to before the election.
No winner was declared in Nanaimo-Ladysmith with Barron and Kronis separated by around 1,000 votes the morning after, with Manly well behind in third.
“I knew I didn’t have it in the bag by any means but most definitely there was a lot of support and encouragement for me running,” Barron said of election night. “I was very aware it was going to be a close race and the results showed that.”
A nervous wait for around 8,000 mail in ballots would delay final results until Friday, Sept. 24.
“At that point it was out of my hands, there was nothing further I could do other than reach out to volunteer and thank them for their hard work, supporters and have a little downtime with my children who were supporting me every step of the way,” Barron added.
Barron was confirmed the riding’s new MP, defeating Kronis by 1,281 votes with Manly another 975 ballots back.
It ended Manly’s two and a half year stint as the MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith where he won two elections but did not serve a full term.
In the months since, Barron said she’s worked to acclimate herself into the new role. She added it’s a different world than being at the SD68 board table.
She’s hired four staff members, with more likely in the new year and continues to lean on a 25-member NDP caucus team.
As of early December, she’d risen to speak in the House of Commons 13 times on a variety of topics and pointed to recently passed legislation on the banning of conversion therapy as an early highlight.
During the campaign, Barron was the most critical of Manly’s role as the riding’s representative. NanaimoNewsNOW asked how she feels she’s been able to more effectively speak for the region in Parliament.
“Unfortunately their voices weren’t being heard to the same level. I’m seeing it right now when there’s question period. It goes through the parties based on numbers and very rarely does it make it to the Green Party Members of Parliament who are there.”
Barron’s position as SD68 board trustee will be filled via a by-election in January 2021.
Lisa Marie Barron and her family pose in the House of Commons ahead of her first session of Parliament, representing the Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding. (Lisa Marie Barron)Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.
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