I’ve been meaning to look this up for a while, and finally got around to it thanks to this Globe & Mail page.
Federal election results, Nanaimo-Qualicum riding, 2006 and 2004
| 2006 candidates | Jan. 2006 | 2004 (candidate) |
| James Lunney, Conservative | 41.4% — 26,102 | 22,935 (Lunney) |
| Manjeet Uppal, NDP | 32.2% —- 20,335 | 19,040 (Scott Fraser) |
| Jim Stewart, Liberal | 19.1% —- 12,023 | 11,646 (Hira Chopra) |
| David Wright, Green | 5.3% —- 3,361 | 4,311 (Wright) |
| Dusty Miller, ? | 1.5% —- 920 | 557 (Michael Mann) |
Much as i detest strategic voting as a perversion of the democratic principle, i might consider it this election because i think it’s important to keep the Conservatives from gaining a majority this time around. There’s little doubt they are going to win, but another minority will at least minimize the damage they do while the left gets its sh*t together again.
Conservatives had quite a lead over the NDP in ’06, less so in ’04. It’s a tough call — vote your beliefs (a “wasted” Green Party vote, in my case) or vote for least bad outcome?
Greg Blee 