2005 Candidates (as received from Elections B.C.):

• Chris Aikman, Green Party of BC
• Barbara Biley, People's Front
• Andrew Black, New Democratic Party of B.C.
• Don Davis, DR BC
• Mel Garden, Refed BC
• Stan Hagen, BC Liberal Party
• Bruce O'Hara, Work Less Party

Maps from Elections B.C. will open in a new window.

District Profile:

This riding, centrally located on Vancouver Island's east coast, is bisected by Highway 19 and runs from the community of Mud Bay in the south to Oyster River in the north. The Strait of Georgia forms the eastern boundary while Strathcona Provincial Park is the western limit. Campbell River is here, as are Courtenay, Comox, Denman and Hornby islands, as well as CFB Comox. While forestry, farming and tourism are important here, there are also many industrial parks. The Courtenay-Comox-Cumberland triangle is a well-developed financial, service and administrative centre. The average family income is $56,633 – below the provincial average – and unemployment is a quite-high 11.1 per cent. Immigrants make up just 13 per cent of the population; visible minorities account for just 3 per cent.

Political History:

The incumbent in Comox Valley is Liberal Stan Hagen, the minister of children and family development. Hagen had served as MLA in the Comox riding under the Social Credit banner from 1986-91, and regained office in 2001 by trouncing then-incumbent Evelyn Gillespie of the New Democrats (by a 3-to-1 margin). Gillespie's loss came after she'd survived two recall petitions in 1998. She'd come to power two years prior with a 2,500-vote win over Liberal Bill MacDonald. Before her, New Democrat Margaret Lord was the MLA here, having unseated Hagen in 1991. Hagen had won office in 1986 by defeating four-term NDP incumbent Karen Sanford.
In 2001, voter turnout in Comox Valley was 74.8 per cent – well above the provincial average.