Skip to content

‘We knew it was going to be a very tight riding’

Steve Darling, Liberal candidate for Burnaby-Lougheed, says he found experience extremely rewarding

Burnaby-Lougheed continues to bleed orange, according to preliminary results from Tuesday’s provincial election.

School trustee and B.C. NDP candidate Katrina Chen won the MLA seat, beating former Global morning show host and B.C. Liberal candidate Steve Darling. At press time, only 47 of 73 polls were reported, with Chen at 8,421 votes and Darling at 6,830 votes.

Some 40 Liberal supporters gathered at the White Spot in Kensington Square on Hastings Street to cheer on Darling.

The evening started with cheers as Darling made gains in the first few polls, but “boos” were heard as the crowd watched the New Democrats push ahead in Burnaby’s four ridings.

Early on in the night, when it was close between him and Chen, Darling told the NOW he was exactly where he thought he would be in the polls.

“We knew that it was going to be a very tight riding from the very beginning,” he said.

Darling remained “super optimistic” and “excited” throughout the evening, doing multiple media hits.

Asked if he learned anything about himself along the campaign trail, Darling said he always considered himself as someone people could rely on and trust.

“When you put a team behind you and do something like this, they need you to be upfront and be a leader,” he said. “And I’ve always been that in my career. I feel that I’ve been able to really lead this time.”

The MLA hopeful added he found the whole experience “extremely rewarding” and wouldn’t have done anything differently with his campaign.

“We tried to be as positive as possible and that’s what I think is missing these days in politics. I’m not someone who’s going to be mean or take shots at people. That’s not my style. ... So I’m extremely excited about the campaign we ran.”

Over in Burnaby North, 78 out of 85 polls had been counted by press time. NDP candidate Janet Routledge was leading with 8,174 votes, followed by Liberal candidate Richard Lee with 7,098.

Watching the returns at his campaign office on Hastings Street, Lee said he was “first excited and then a little disappointed.”

He attributed the NDP’s sweep in Burnaby to two issues.

“I’m not sure, but I think some issues regarding Kinder Morgan,” he told the NOW. “I think that’s one issue, and also the teachers – they’re not so happy with some of the past history of the negotiations with the government.”

As for his future in politics, he wasn’t ruling anything out.

“It’s hard to say. People say once you get the bug, the political bug, you can never get rid of it,” he said.