Nanaimo–Ladysmith candidates officially declared in the riding
Nanaimo–Ladysmith candidates from left to right: Paul Manly (Green), Lisa Marie Barron (NDP), Michelle Corfield (Liberal), Tamara Kronis (Conservative), Stephen Welton (PPC). Photo collage: Jesse Woodward / CHLY 101.7 FM
The deadline for candidates to apply for the riding has officially passed, and Elections Canada has put out the official list of who voters in the Nanaimo–Ladysmith riding will see on their ballot.
In the Nanaimo–Ladysmith riding, there are five candidates on the ballot; the incumbent Lisa Marie Barron with the federal NDP, Liberal Party of Canada candidate Michelle Corfield, Tamara Kronis with the Conservative Party of Canada, Green Party of Canada candidate Paul Manly, and Stephen Welton with People's Party of Canada.
This year’s ballot reflects the 2021 federal election when each of the current candidates also ran.
CHLY reached out to each of the candidates to see how the elections have been going for them.
Former Member of Parliament Paul Manly is once again running for the Green Party of Canada. He held the role as MP for the riding from 2019 until losing his seat to Lisa Marie Barron in 2021.
Manly told CHLY he feels there are a lot of challenges currently facing Canadians with tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty from the United States, but affordability is top of mind for him.
“It's been a serious problem for a number of years now, and I used to be the executive director at the Nanaimo Unitarian shelter, so I've seen lots of people at the shelter door who shouldn't be at the shelter door, including working people, low income seniors, people with disabilities, even had a [Vancouver Island University] student there at one point,” Manly said.
He said hospitals are overcrowded, and too many people in Nanaimo do not have a family doctor.
“At the same time, we've seen huge inequality in our country. We've gone from multimillionaires to multibillionaires with the tax cuts that they've received over the last three decades. Ordinary people are struggling,” he said. “The services that we rely on have been cut, and we have a lot of problems based on that, including the affordability crisis, the lack of affordable housing, and our health care crisis.”
Incumbent Lisa Marie Barron with the New Democrat Party said she has been spending this election getting out into the community to hear from people on what issues they are currently facing.
“One thing I love about elections and about putting my name forward in elections is that I'm spending all day, every day, talking to people in the community, hearing what's important to them, hearing about the path forward,” Barron said. “What's really clear when I'm knocking on doors is that people are–rightfully, so really worried about what our future looks like for our kids and our grandkids. I'm hearing from so many people about the concern of having Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives in power.”
She said it is important in this election that everyone gets out and votes.
“There's clearly so much support out there, which is wonderful to see, but I'm not going to deny, we know it's going to be tight,” she said. “So just talking to people about how important it is that they're out voting and bringing friends with them to vote this election, because I think with a good voter turnout, we have every reason to be optimistic.”
None of the other candidates in the riding got back to CHLY by the deadline.
While many of the candidates are going door-to-door to speak with residents, there will be several opportunities for voters to hear from the candidates at upcoming candidate forums in the community
Election day is April 28, with advance voting happening April 18 until the 21st. Information on where to vote in advance voting and on election day can be found at www.elections.ca.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.