BC residents place bets on already-won race

» How an early election call influenced the result

Chandler Walter
Humour Editor
S humour@theotherpress.ca

ll throughout the red

sweep of the Atlantic
provinces, the declaration of
a new prime minister, and the
probability of a liberal majority
projected, polls in British
Columbia remained open.

Canada separates into four
and a half time zones. Usually,
time zones never really seem
to affect daily West Coast life
all too much. That is, until the
third Monday of October, every
(at least) four years. It was due
to this difference in time zones
that BC voters found themselves
with a new prime minister,
with hours to spare in their
opportunity to go out and vote.

As the Westernmost
province with only 42 seats
up for grabs, BC has never
quite been a game changer in
the race to Parliament. Most
federal elections are decided
long before polling stations in
the west close their doors on
Election Day, although this
was the first federal election
that British Columbians were
able to watch full coverage,
starting at 4 p.m. PST.

Section 329 of the Canada
Elections Act states: “No person
shall transmit the result or
purported result of the vote

: in an electoral district to the
: public in another electoral

: district before the close of all
: of the polling stations in that
: other electoral district.”

The section would have

ideally kept voters in later time

: zones from knowing the results
: of ridings that had already been :
: decided. Natalie Babin Dufresne, :
: the Assistant Director of :
: External Relations at Elections
: Canada, said that this section

: of the act was repealed in 2014
: due to its lack of practicality.

Dufresne said that

: the repeal “was based on

: recommendations by the chief
: electoral officer simply because
: it wasn't really [feasible] inthis — :
: age of modern communications.” :
: However, with the section :
: repealed, election results were

: free to be broadcast the moment
: St. John’s polls began closing,

: three hours before BC’s.

Some British Columbia

: voters, like Jackie Fekete,
: were aware that election
: results were being broadcast
: before BC’s polls were closed,
: though did not want it to
: influence their decision.

“I'd been trying to ignore

: it,” Fekete said, regarding the

: news that Justin Trudeau had

: been projected to be Canada’s
: next prime minister. Fekete

: had to wait until after class on
: Monday before going to cast

: her ballot, and by that time,

 

the Liberals had all but secured
; a majority government.

“That’s why I didn’t want to

: look, I didn’t want to think, “Oh,
: I should change my vote based

: on what is happening,” Fekete

: said, when asked if knowing the
: information would have swayed
: her towards voting Liberal.

Courtney Striker, a fourth-

: year political science and gender
: studies student at the University
: of Victoria, was working as

: a polling clerk in Victoria on

: October 19, so she opted to

: vote during the advance polls.

Polls closed in BC at 7 p.m.,

: and, as stated on Elections
: Canada’s website: “The voting

: hours are staggered so that

: the majority of results are

: available at approximately the
: same time on election night.”

Striker said those who

: were in the building at 7 p.m.

: could still vote, and the last

: voters casting a ballot stayed

: as late as 7:15 p.m. Striker

: worries that prematurely called
: elections may contribute to

: BC voters feeling as if their

: vote is wasted, though notes,

: “It’s not at all a good reason

: to not vote, because it’s about

: exercising a democratic right

: that’s not afforded to so many

: populations around the world.”

“In the end,” Striker

  

Image via thestar.com

: said, “if the numbers say that
: enough people feel like it’s

: an issue, then broadcasters

: should hold off on revealing

: counts until precisely 7 p.m.”

When asked if Elections

Canada had any modernized

: plans underway to address this
: issue the way Section 329 did

: in the past, Dufresne said that

: that remains a legislative issue,
: and that Elections Canada is

: “here to implement the law

: as parliament wishes it.”

It appears it is in the hands

: of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
: to see if BC voters will be
avoiding election “spoiler alerts”
: come next federal election.

 

Whale-watching vessel capsizes in Tofino

» Tragic accident leads to five deaths and one missing

Cazzy Lewchuk
Staff Writer

n October 25, a whale-

watching vessel sank off
the coast of Tofino, BC. A total
of 27 people were on board the
Leviathan I when it capsized,
prompting a mass search-and-
rescue mission. Tragically, five
people died in the accident, with
another who is still missing at
press time. All five victims were
British citizens, with the missing
being an Australian national.

While investigations are
still being conducted by the
Transportation and Safety
Board (TSB), the boat was
reportedly capsized by a rogue
wave. Tofino is well-known
for its extreme waves, making
it an international tourist
destination for surfing in
addition to camping, fishing,
and whale-watching.
The victims were identified

by the BC Coroner’s Services
as David Thomas, 50; his son
Stephen, 18; Nigel Hooker,

: 63; Katie Taylor, 29; and

: Jack Slater, 76. The missing
: man has been unofficially

: identified as Rav Pillay.

Among those who were the

: first to witness, report, and aid
: the accident were members of
: local fishing boats alongside

: other whale-watching vessels

: and local Ahousaht First Nations :
: residents, who are credited with :
: helping to save the 21 survivors.

Premier Christy Clark

: specifically praised the

: Ahousaht First Nations people
: on October 27 in a press

: conference, stating: “The

: Ahousaht First Nation did not
: miss a beat. First Nations on

: this coast have been fishing

: it for millennia. Nobody

: knows the water better.”

Clark also elaborated that

: the government will be working
: to provide further emergency

: response training to local

: First Nations in the future.

Marc-André Poisson,

: director of marine investigations
: for the TSB, told CBC in a press

: statement that most of the

: passengers would have been

: on one side of the boat when

: the wave hit. “This would have
: raised the centre of gravity,

: affecting the vessel’s stability

: [...] None of this preliminary

: information should be used

: in isolation to draw any

conclusions at this point.”
Efforts are underway by the

: TSB to recover the Leviathan

: II to salvage and refloat

: the wreck. Some electronic

: instruments from the boat

: has already been recovered

: and sent away for observation,

: which will hopefully provide

: explanations for the chain of

: events that led to the capsizing.

The business owning the

: Leviathan II, Jamie’s Whaling

: Station, closed after the accident
: and has not reopened. However,
: most other businesses in the

: area have resumed as usual.

: The accident is not expected to

: hurt the tourist trade in Tofino,

: which attracts as many as one

: million visitors each year.

  

Image by Albert Titan via Facebook