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Liberals target NDP seats in B.C. in quest for majority government

Click to play video: 'Canada election 2025: Liberals could take over NDP strongholds'
Canada election 2025: Liberals could take over NDP strongholds
Polls show the Liberals are leading ahead of the federal election, but could their lead grow bigger by overtaking traditional NDP stronghold ridings? Travis Prasad reports. – Apr 22, 2025

With just days to go before the federal election, British Columbia is shaping up to be a crucial battleground that could decide whether the country sees a majority government.

Current polling suggests a Mark Carney-led majority government is possible, but in order to achieve that goal the Liberals will likely need to poach multiple seats that were held by the NDP when Parliament dissolved.

More than half of the New Democrat caucus, 13 seats, were based in British Columbia, and the Grits have been campaigning hard in several they think they can win.

Click to play video: 'B.C. ridings to watch: NDP seats in jeopardy'
B.C. ridings to watch: NDP seats in jeopardy

Among those is Port Moody-Coquitlam, which has flipped between the NDP and the Conservatives since the early 1990s. Incumbent New Democrat Bonita Zarillo is defending the seat, but Liberal Zoe Royer, a school trustee and former Port Moody councillor, thinks she can win.

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“One of the things that I am hearing is … the fact that we do have an MP in the community, we don’t have representation at the government table, so we know the voices in this community are having far less impact,” she said.

“So we need to get our voices to that table.”

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Recent polling has placed NDP support in British Columbia with anywhere from under 10 per cent to the high teens.

If those numbers trend to the low side, nearly half a dozen New Democratic seats could be vulnerable to the Liberals.

Click to play video: 'Advance voting over last 4 days shatters records, Elections Canada says'
Advance voting over last 4 days shatters records, Elections Canada says

Burnaby Central, New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville, Port Moody-Coquitlam, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke and Victoria could also be in play.

University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford said the NDP will need to hold off the assault if it hopes to retain official party status in the next Parliament.

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“The NDP is in really tough in this election. Obviously they are desperate to come back with at least official party status, 12 seats,” he said.

“I think that is going to be a tall order for them. Even Jagmeet Singh’s own seat in Burnaby is at risk here.”

Jake Sawatzky, the Liberal candidate who hopes to unseat NDP incumbent Peter Julian in New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville, said the party’s new leader is resonating with voters.

“People are really worried about the United States, a lot of people are worried about how these waves in the economy are going to affect their savings, if they might lose their jobs,” he said.

“He’s someone who can weather the storm.”

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Conservatives release party platform in final week of federal election campaign

The NDP is clearly sensitive to the potential threat, deploying Singh to the Lower Mainland on Tuesday for a fourth consecutive day of stumping in British Columbia.

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Campaigning in Vancouver-Kingsway with NDP candidate Don Davies, Singh said New Democrats are the only ones capable of pressuring a Liberal government into adopting and expanding programs like dental and pharmacare.

British Columbians, he said, can have the crucial say over how much power the next government can wield.

“It’s a question of do you want one party to have all the power, or do you want New Democrats to be there to fight for you?” Singh said.

“At the end of election night, it will be British Columbians who decide if Mark Carney gets a supermajority or if enough New Democrats are there to fight back and defend the things you care about.”

Davies said it is a message that is landing with voters.

“What we’re finding on the doorstep is that progressive voters not only want to send New Democrats to Parliament because that’s the way to defeat Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives, it’s also to defend and advance the values they hold dear,”  he said.

Voters will have to wait until April 28 to see just how it all plays out.

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