The riding
Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke includes Esquimalt, Sooke, View Royal, Colwood, Metchosin and parts of Saanich.
Size: 404 square kilometres
Population: 120,834
Registered voters: 101,934
Current MP: Randall Garrison, NDP
In the past: Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke was a new riding for 2015. The riding shares territory with the old Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca riding. Keith Martin held Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca for 18 years, first with the Reform Party, then Canadian Alliance and Liberal. New Democrat Randall Garrison got 35 per cent of the vote in 2015 and about 34 per cent in 2019.
2019 results
70,125 valid ballots were cast in 2019.
2021 candidates
Candidates are in alphabetical order by last name.
Rob Anderson
People's Party of Canada
Age 53, did not say where he was born. Moved to Sooke in December to be around his kids. Semi-retired helicopter pilot of 30 years, “getting into the funeral industry.”
Did not reveal his vaccination status. “It’s none of your or anyone else’s business what the Vaccination status is of anyone in our society. With experimental ‘vaccines’ being thrust onto society without any open discussion or opposing scientific data being allowed by Provincial or Federal agencies these ‘vaccines’ or medical treatments need to stop until such time as all the proper and unbiased scientific data, procedures and results will either allow for approval or be denied certification.”
What are the top issues in your riding?
The top issues are mental health and addiction treatment. The lack of accountability on all levels of Government. The lack of transparency in Government and the financial mismanagement of tax dollars. The complete lack of responsible immigration which in turn has caused a housing shortage and high costs for any available housing. The complete and unacceptable overstep of Government into family and parental rights. The corruption of our Justice system to benefit politically motivated agenda’s. The divide and concur tactics of the establishment political parties in order to maintain control of the masses needs to stop. We are all Canadian and we need to rise up and take care of Canada and Canadians first.
Why did you decide to run in this election?
I reached a point in my life where I could no longer sit and watch the systemic destruction of Canada from within. I believe that I needed to stand up and be a voice for Canada and Canadians who have been silenced or shamed into silence. I believe that Canada and Canadians deserve better from their Government. I am tired of lying establishment party Politicians who say one thing and then do another. All while doing nothing to help Canadians but spend money and resources to help other Nations or regimes with no accountability to Canadians. Canada is currently in a mess due to the three establishment parties who have been allowed to run with their agendas, often motivated by directives from the UN without any accountability.
What is your political experience?
This is my first time running for Public office. I was raised in a very politically aware and active household where politics was often the dinner conversation.
How have you made a difference in your community?
I am a Canadian and believe in being helpful with any who ask for my assistance. I do not see colour or ethnic background, only my fellow Canadian and recognise that we are all equal with an intolerance for ignorance or racial divide. I am advocating for accessible Mental health and addictions treatment across Canada.
What community groups and/or issues have you been involved with?
Fighting against Vaccine and mask mandates, against conversion gene therapy for kids. Restoring parental consent. Fighting against vaccine passports and coerced vaccination without real informed consent. I am advocating for accessible addiction treatment and mental health centers in every province and territory across Canada.
Laura Anne Frost
Conservative Party of Canada
Age 58, born in Calgary, resident of the riding since 2007. Has a PhD and has worked as a land management specialist and environmental researcher for 20 years. No previous political experience. Active in three local churces, volunteers at a long-term care centre.
Fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “Vaccines are the most important tool in the fight against COVID-19. I encourage every Canadian who can get one, to do so. Overall, I believe it is a personal decision and I believe in the rights of citizens to choose.”
What are the top issues in your riding?
Housing availability and affordability. This includes seniors, low-income people, students, disabled and currently homeless people. The Conservative platform includes a commitment to make federal lands available for housing. In our riding, this could include areas such as Work Point, Belmont Part, Mary Hill, and Rocky Point. This is an incredible opportunity to increase housing supply in our region.
Shortage of doctors and specialists. Wait times are unprecedented. There are substantial increases in federal transfer payments to provinces that are part of the Conservative platform. This is an opportunity to work collaboratively with provinces to increase the number of MDs being trained.
Mental health. One in five children in Canada had suicidal thoughts during COVID-19. Wait times are very long and access to care is difficult. Most of us have been touched by the opioid crisis and either lost a loved one or know of a family who have experienced this kind of loss. I have lost a friend from church and the son of a family friend. Both were actively seeking mental health support. Again, the Conservative Platform has very specific initiatives in this area which I wholeheartedly support.
Climate change and extreme weather events. I have incorporated long-range climate predications into my science work for two decades, as we need to address adaptation and resilience issues as well as carbon mitigation, such as our commitment to Net Zero by 2030. Protecting the environment has always been a core Conservative value. We all want a green future for our children.
Why did you decide to run in this election?
Canadians have endured much with COVID-19. I count myself blessed with a strong education and work history; so, it was time to stand up when the planned candidate for the riding had to step down at short notice. I felt in my heart it was time to serve our country.
Two issues that are very important at a personal level are providing an opportunity for First Nations to explain the grief and trauma that many have experienced, as we work together to find paths to healing and reconciliation; and properly supporting our veterans, especially those suffering from injury, including operational stress.
How have you made a difference in your community?
Over the last two years the Mount View Colquitz Community Association has been involved to preserve P-1 zoning for a day care on Raymond St South near the Galloping Goose. I actively researched options, met with the developer, and spoke at Saanich council meetings. We were successful in having Saanich preserve the zoning despite considerable pressure from the developer. We hope a suitable day care option for the site comes forward soon.
What community groups and/or issues have you been involved with?
• Active member of the Mount View Colquitz Community Association and issue around development and community planning.
• Board member for a Health Advisory Council
• Active in three local churches in the electoral district
• Volunteer at a long-term care centre (reading and walking with patients)
Randall Garrison (incumbent)
New Democratic Party
Age 71, born in Nebraska, immigrated to Canada in 1973 and the riding in 1989. Member of parliament since 2011, Esquimalt municipal councillor for one term before that. Taught criminal justice at Camosun College for 20 years.
Fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “The only way to defeat COVID is for all Canadians who can to get vaccinated. I fully support vaccine mandates and vaccine passports. These are essential tools to keep safe the more vulnerable members of the community and those who can’t get vaccinated. The federal government also needs to ensure we can produce vaccines here in Canada to meet our own needs during this and future pandemics. Any surplus can be used to help fill unmet needs around the world and thus help prevent new variant arriving from abroad.”
What are the top issues in your riding?
The top three issues in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke are affordability, health care, and the climate crisis.
Families and individuals were struggling to make ends meet in this riding even before the pandemic hit due to the high costs of housing, prescription drugs, cell phones and internet service, and putting healthy food on the table. It doesn’t have to be this way.
New Democrats will slap a tax on housing speculators and ensure more affordable housing gets built. We can bring the cost of internet and cell service down by nearly $100 per month by putting a hard cap on fees in line with international averages.
Bringing prescription drugs into a universal public system will save individuals money out of pocket and will save on health care costs by ensuring access to drugs for everyone who needs them for better health outcomes. It is time to complete our public health care system by bringing not only prescription drugs, but also dental care, eye care, and mental health care into the public system.
Finally, we need to act like the climate crisis is the emergency that it is. We can start by eliminating all fossil fuel subsidies immediately and shifting those funds over to renewable energy projects that will create good, family supporting jobs in every community starting now.
Why did you decide to run in this election?
I want to continue to fight on behalf of my constituents for a more equal, resilient, and sustainable Canada. I have demonstrated that I have the skills and abilities to get things done, no matter what the makeup of the next parliament. When this parliament was cut short, I had several personal projects near the finish line. If you send me back I will be able to get the ban of conversion therapy passed, self-harm removed from the military code of conduct as a disciplinary offence, and set up a crown corporation to begin construction of renewable energy projects.
What is your political experience?
- Municipal councillor in Esquimalt, 2008-2011
- Member of Parliament 2011, 2015, 2019
How have you made a difference in your community?
As a Member of Parliament, I have been an effective advocate on the issues that matter in my community. I have consistently scored among the highest for opposition members securing federal funding for projects and jobs in my riding. During the pandemic I worked alongside my staff fighting to get access to supports residents needed and to preserve jobs during the pandemic. I am proud to have introduced measures to help tackle domestic violence, improve mental health supports in the military, to better protect Southern Resident Killer Whales, and jumpstart renewable energy projects.
What community groups and/or issues have you been involved with?
- Founding President of Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre, 1989-1992
- Member of the Esquimalt Municipal Police Board (before amalgamation), 1995-1999
- Co-chair of Election Observer Mission for the UN Referendum on Independence in East Timor, 1999
- Researcher for major international human rights organization in Afghanistan, 2001
Harley Gordon
Green Party of Canada
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Age 29, born in Prince George. Resident of Greater Victoria since 2010, lives in Colwood. Biochemist complete doctorate in forest biology and a scientific communicator.
Fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “Yes, I am fully vaccinated for several reasons. My brother is a nurse and direct accounts from health care staff on the impact of COVID-19 on our health care system are harrowing. I am vaccinated to keep him and his colleagues safe. Several of my immediate family contracted COVID-19 before the vaccine was available, they avoided hospitalization, but that was not the situation for thousands of Canadians. It is our responsibility to get vaccinated and contribute to public safety. Finally, as a scientist, I understand the vaccine development process, the vaccine technology, and trust the researchers involved in the vaccine development.”
What are the top issues in your riding?
The pandemic has compounded economic hardship faced by Canadians and has exacerbated inequities present within our society. The cost of housing and food have sky-rocketed. Child care remains a challenge. And our health care system does not cover prescribed medicine or dental care. The Green Party is a champion for bold action to grow our economy and build a more equitable society. We are working to provide a guaranteed livable income, universal childcare, universal health care, and more affordable housing for all Canadians.
Residents throughout Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke want to see the federal government address the climate crisis. We want to see our environment protected. This means cancelling the Trans Mountain pipeline and reducing oil tankers along the coast. Climate action also means protecting endangered old-growth forests. We are in a climate crisis and years of inaction at the federal level is making it worse. Only the Green Party offers a realistic and bold plan for Canada to transition from being a cause of the climate crisis into a solution.
To tackle these two fundamental issues, we need local representation. Our riding is not effectively represented in Ottawa. Our voices are not being heard. Each riding faces and prioritizes challenges in different ways. We need a MP willing to prioritize the issues of constituents before the party. The Green Party is working to restore our democracy by supporting electoral reform, working across party lines, and brining local issues to a national platform.
Why did you decide to run in this election?
There is a perpetual lack of action in addressing real issues from the federal government. I, alongside so many Canadians see the need for climate action, and we realize our representatives are doing nothing. We see the inequities that are building in Canada, and our politicians are not acting. I am running because houses are only getting more expensive, healthcare and education are getting further out of reach. I am running because our politicians vote for their party, not for their constituents, and because the liberals, conservatives, and new democrats have failed to reduce Canada’s Emissions.
What is your political experience?
Volunteered on Green campaigns previously – for example, supported Mike Schreiner’s successful campaign in Ontario in 2018
How have you made a difference in your community?
Community is a broad term, and the pandemic has shown we have communities that are connected in ways other than proximity. In my professional community I contribute research and write articles advancing the field of plant biochemistry. I share passion and knowledge with students and colleagues from around the world. In my local community I have worked to restore natural spaces, clean up our beaches, and run community and educational programs for youth.
What community groups and/or issues have you been involved with?
Habitat Acquisition Trust, Citizens’ Environment Network in Colwood (CENIC), Friends of Havenwood Park, UVic Environmental Restoration Group, Galiano Island Conservancy Trust, Let’s Talk Science, IdeaFest, Board member on the Downtown Blanshard Advisory Committee.
Doug Kobayashi
Liberal Party of Canada
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Age 64, born in Nova Scotia and raised in Greater Victoria. Returned to the Island in 2009 after a career in the military and the aerospace industry; now has a management consulting company and is a Colwood municipal councillor. Married with one daughter.
Fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “I believe it is our collective responsibility to do everything we can to protect ourselves from this devastating virus. I want to say ‘thank you’ to our frontline healthcare workers who continue to work tirelessly with great sacrifice to them and their families over the past 18 months.”
What are the top issues in your riding?
- Climate Change
- Housing Affordability
- Health Care, including doctor shortage, mental health and pharmacare
- Support for Seniors
- COVID-19
- Economic Recovery
- Support for the Tourism and Cultural Sectors
Why did you decide to run in this election?
Climate Change — if we don’t deal with it, it will deal with us.
To help build a stronger middle class — look for innovative Made in Canada solutions to global climate challenges that can also help drive a fair transition from a fossil-fuelled economy to one that’s fossil-free and healthier for all.
To help hold those responsible accountable for the wrongdoing brought upon the Indigenous Peoples of this country. Actions must be taken.
To make sure future generations who work hard can still afford a home and healthcare.
To ensure Canada continues to serve as a global leader in innovation.
What is your political experience?
I was elected to serve the residents of Colwood in 2018 and am currently taking a leave of absence from that position (without pay) in my bid to become the Member of Parliament for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke.
What community groups and/or issues have you been involved with?
I have volunteered my time to serve on the Westshore Literacy Committee, the Board of Directors of the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Board of Governors of Royal Roads University (RRU), Chair of the RRU Business School Advisory Council, the Pacific Family Centre, was the President of the Westshore Chamber of Commerce and President of the Westshore Rebels Football Club. I am currently a Trustee with the Greater Victoria Public Library and on the Board of Directors of the BC Aviation Museum.
How have you made a difference in your community?
I am accustomed to working collaboratively in a mission-oriented way. I connect with people across the riding on a daily basis and I genuinely want to represent their interests – across party lines.
I think it is critically important to have someone representing this riding who listens, is curious, knows how to manage change, and has a collaborative style of leadership. It’s also important that folks understand how important it is to be part of the governing party, in order to get much needed federal funding re-invested in our riding to address critical transportation and supply chain issues.
Tyson Riel Strandlund
Communist Party of Canada
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Age 29, lifelong resident of Greater Victoria. Currently lives just outside the riding. A “half-time organizer and a full-time M.A. student” in UVic’s history department.
Fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “We all have a responsibility to get vaccinated to stop the spread of COVID-19. However, Canada’s vaccine hoarding and taking supplies from the COVAX program at the expense of other countries is also a major obstacle in this. Canada even voted at the UN on behalf of the big pharmaceutical corporations against sharing vaccine patent information in order to increase corporate profits at the cost of human lives. We need to nationalise the pharmaceutical industry, make all pharmaceuticals free, and to override patent rights so countries can buy or produce the vaccines in their own labs at cost.”
What are the top issues in your riding?
Today working people are faced with many serious issues, both here and across the country. One of those is the skyrocketing costs of housing, and wages which have not kept up with rising prices of rent, food, and other necessities, leading to falling standards of living. The Communist Party is fighting to raise wages ($23/hr minimum), pensions, and disability rates, to create jobs and build affordable public housing, and to significantly increase taxes on the rich.
The COVID-19 pandemic came at the same time as an economic crisis which was already well underway, and even an end to this badly managed health crisis will not bring an end to the economic precarity, job losses, and austerity which we will be faced with for the duration of the lifespan of capitalism in this country. We need an economic recovery that centres the needs of working people, not corporate profits, which have seen massive increases during this period and a direct transfer of wealth to the tune of billions from public coffers.
People on Vancouver Island are acutely aware of the devastating effects of Climate change on our environment, which is threatening ways of life for people in fisheries, agriculture, tourism, and other industries, not to mention deaths caused by heatwaves and fires. A coat of green paint over capitalism as is being offered by the bourgeois parties is not enough to solve this. We need an eco-socialist climate plan which puts energy and resources under public ownership and democratic control.
Why did you decide to run in this election?
None of the corporate parties have answers for the multiple crises facing working people today. From the horrifically managed pandemic, to growing poverty and inequality, to the threats of a new Cold War, to the rise of white-supremacist and fascist organisations, to a planet being rapidly destroyed for the profits of the rich, capitalism offers us a dystopian future and the working class — especially young people — deserve better. Socialism isn’t just the best alternative, but the only alternative to the state of permanent crisis we are being plunged into under the capitalist regime.
What is your political experience?
I have been invited to participate in various international conferences, congresses, and other events as a representative of the Communist Party and of the Young Communist League. I’ve been privileged to meet and to speak with many governmental representatives, including President Nicolas Maduro and ministers of the Bolivarian government of Venezuela.
In June of last year I hosted a panel for National Indigenous People’s Day which featured Bolivian President Evo Morales and a variety of Indigenous community leaders from Canada.
How have you made a difference in your community?
In addition to active participation in and raising funds for a variety of movements, my most significant contributions have been in building the Communist Party and Young Communist League, and in helping to educate a new generation of communists and socialists in revolutionary theory and practice. I started the local YCL chapter in Victoria in 2013, and the Party has grown exponentially since I joined in 2012, both quantitatively and qualitatively in terms of theoretical and practical ability, not to mention overall visibility in the community.
I have a long history of involvement with struggles for Indigenous justice and self-determination, with the student movement, the environmental movement, peace and anti-war activism, anti-racism, as well as in Palestinian solidarity, to list just a few.
