Candidates in Ladysmith Oceanside in their own words

Three candidates are running for the legislative assembly in the Ladysmith Oceanside electoral district. From left to right are Charlene Smylie for the BC Green Party, Stephanie Higginson for the NDP and Kris McNichol for the Conservative Party of BC.

Three candidates are vying to represent Ladysmith-Oceanside  in the provincial election. 

BC NDP incumbent Stephanie Higginson is facing the BC Green’s Charlene Smylie and Kris McNichol who is running for the BC Conservative party.

CHLY spoke with Higginson and Smylie about why they are running and what they can deliver for residents. 

An email from a conservative party staffer declined our interview request saying that conservative candidates are focusing on speaking with voters. Questions sent through email were also never answered. 

Asked why she was running in the election, Higginson said it was to continue the work she’s done as part of the NDP government.

“Since I've been the MLA for Ladysmith-Oceanside, we have seen such tremendous progress on really important files,” Higginson said. “Twenty-five hundred people in the riding have been attached to a family health-care practitioner. We now have almost 300 $10 dollar a day childcare seats in the riding, which is an increase of a176 since I was elected. We were able to announce a new school in the south end of Ladysmith, and an addition to Ladysmith Primary — that's a huge $52 million investment into the Ladysmith community by our government. That's the largest capital investment in that community in a generation.”

Higginson continued.

“Under the NDP government, we've seen record levels of health-care infrastructure in the Central Island. The new hospital in Duncan, the Cowichan Hospital, is going to open in a matter of months. The new cancer center's under construction, a new care home in Lantzville. The list is really long. I know there's still lots of work to do, so that's why I'm running, because I still see that we have a lot of work to do ahead of us,” said Higginson. “In these really precarious times, I think it's really important that our community has a strong and experienced MLA who has a track record of fighting for community and fighting for families, which I have as a school trustee and as the MLA. And I see all that work that I just talked about is at risk, and it scares me what would happen if we had a Conservative government.”

Higginson touched on potential cuts from the BC Conservatives.

“They've talked about health care cuts. They've talked about education cuts. This week, we saw some kind of secret backroom deal to privatize auto insurance, which makes me wonder what's next. Does that mean we're going to have private health care like their friends in Alberta?” she said. “When the Premier said ‘Will you run again for us?’ There was too much at stake  to say no. I'm running because these are precarious times, and I want to protect the good work that, that I've done for the last two years, and I want to continue to stand up for the people in my riding and make sure that people continue to get the investment that they deserve and the services that they count on during what is a very unprecedented and precarious time for folks in Ladysmith-Oceanside riding.”

Smylie, the former mayor of  Wabamun, Alberta who moved to Vancouver Island in 2023 said that she’s running to serve her community. 

“Well, honestly, this isn't what I thought I would be doing this October. As a former mayor and political commentator, I was just enjoying watching all the local campaigns kick off across B.C. and talking about it,” she said. “When the snap election was called, I had enough. Sorry to pull out the mom voice here, but how rude. A government that puts people first wouldn't be calling an unnecessary and expensive election that no one wants right now. I know we can build a better government and a better future with the BC Greens. So I want to serve my community. I love community service, and I believe in servant leadership, and I want to help deliver a life that's a lot more affordable and fair and have a government that I'm not disappointed in.”

Higginson said that the biggest challenge in the riding is job losses in the forestry industry.

“I think one of the biggest things that the central Island region faces is the risk of forestry job loss related to the pressures from the Trump tariffs,” she said. “It's a tough industry already, and my family owns a small-scale sawmill. While recognizing the work we've done to protect old growth, reduce raw log exports by over three million cubic meters to increase the value-added sector. We need to continue to pay attention to this industry.”

She continued.

“We need to continue to throw everything we have at it. We've really increased the value added sector so that we can get every penny and every part out of every log. Even in my family business, we've  increased our value-added side. We're very committed to making sure that we protect communities as they face this risk and make sure that we have retraining programs,” said Higginson.

Smylie said that the province should focus on improving affordability and providing leadership on issues such as droughts and wildfires. 

“I would say representation that matters,” she said. “From someone that experienced the same kind of everyday struggles, working hard and still trying to afford groceries, raising teenagers and wondering if they could ever afford to move out.”

Smylie said she is “wondering how much of our province will be destroyed by wildfire this summer and how the droughts will affect the farmers and our hydropower moving forward.”

“I can promise that there's leadership. I'll be there to serve the people and hope for a better future and a plan for how we're going to get there. Not just throwing money around without fixing the efficiency issues that we all know we're having, and not just cutting services people depend on just so the wealthy pay less taxes. I think the Greens are the way we're going to get there,” said Smylie.

Asked what she can deliver for local residents, Higginson promised improved health-care infrastructure. 

“So many good things have been happening that we've delivered on, but the one thing that we need to get done that I am committed to, and a dog with a bone on, is that hospital tower and cath lab. I know it's not in my riding, but I hear consistently from folks how important it is. The Central Island MLAs are really collectively determined to see that project delivered. I'm really appreciative of the good work of the Regional District Hospital Board,” she said. “Because of them, that process is currently in an expedited sort of concept plan and business case process happening together. And as soon as that process is finished, and all those experts tell us what the plan is and the expected cost in, then is on that, then we're going to get that in the budget, and I'm totally committed to delivering that project.”

Smylie also said that health care is a priority for the Green and would open community healthcare centres in the riding. 

“What I'm hearing, especially in our area with the older demographic, and all of us frankly, is that we really need health care that we can count on. So many of us are still trying to find a family doctor and trying to navigate a health-care system that's unnecessarily complicated and really siloed,” she said. “Heck, I don't even know what app I'm supposed to use to find my lab results. The BC Greens are looking at building  community healthcare centres in every region with team-based care and long-term supports. [We will] finish delivering the safe nurse-to-patient ratio that we're promised, keep every public health dollar in public healthcare, and cover mental health care  through the public system.” 

Higginson said that the top priority for an NDP government will be to make life more affordable for British Columbians.  

“There's no doubt that it's about affordability right now for folks and fighting for British Columbia during these uncertain times. In the last year we diversified our economy and  increased our exports by 16 per cent,” she said. “We have a plan to fight for the people of British Columbia. We're gonna create good jobs. We're gonna strengthen health care. We're going to protect people from these rising costs. What we need right now is a strong, stable government to do this, and we're going to get to work on that on day one to help people with affordability and fight for British Columbia.”

Smylie said that economic fairness is a priority for the Greens. 

“The BC Greens are also proposing solutions to ensure economic fairness for all and a life that you can afford. So when you're working and contributing and raising a family here, you should be able to afford that. The BC Greens believe fighting for the future means protecting the people and the planet,” she said.

Voting day for the provincial election is October 24 with advance voting available between October 16th and 21st. For more information on where and how to vote go to elections.bc.ca.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

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