Once again, a federal election call was made well before western votes had a chance to be considered, leaving some voters feeling disenfranchised, as if their votes don’t matter.
On Monday night, at about 7:15 p.m. PT, media outlets, including CBC News, projected the Liberals would form the next government. That was 15 minutes after polls had closed in B.C., and not long after they closed in Alberta. The election call was made knowing only the early results of the more Eastern provinces. This is not unusual for British Columbians — it’s certainly happened before — but for some, it is frustrating. Voters in Surrey, B.C., on April 18, 2025, during advance voting. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Two hundred of the country’s ridings are in Ontario and Quebec, because that’s where a high percentage of the Canadian population lives. Another 32 are situated in Atlantic Canada, so it’s really no wonder federal elections are called before western provinces are counted. But those early election declarations still hurt, said Sherry Boschman of Fort St. James, located about 113 kilometres northwest of Prince George.
“It just disappoints me.”
Boschman has voted in B.C. for decades and said she’s grown used to this and worries that other western voters are feeling left behind; she said her relatives in Saskatchewan feel the same way. “It seems to me like the West really doesn’t count.”
Sourhttps: cbc.ca/news/canada/bc
