How should Alistair MacGregor advocate for our community’s future?

The election results are in. Voters in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford picked Alistair MacGregor with the New Democratic Party to represent them for a second term. Here’s the vote breakdown:

• Alistair MacGregor, NDP, 36%
• Alana DeLong Conservative Party, 26%
• Lydia Hwitsum, Green Party, 20%
• Blair Herbert, Liberal Party, 16%
• Rhonda Chen, People’s Party of Canada, 1.6%
• Robin Stanbridge, Christian Heritage Party, 0.4%

Elections Canada says 69 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in this riding.

Paul Manly, with the Green Party, kept his seat in Nanaimo-Ladysmith, with 35 per cent of the vote.

Nationally, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals pulled off a minority government win. 

How you helped set the election agenda

A big thank you to all who participated in or followed along with The Discourse Cowichan’s coverage in some way. During the election period, we launched Set The Agenda, a collaborative effort to put people in control of election discourse. 

You responded, sending us great questions for MP candidates to answer. In the end, we published 10 stories (scroll to the bottom of this article for a full list) about the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford race, driven by your curiosity.

What’s next? 

Your Member of Parliament has a big job to do. He must now represent this riding at the federal level in the 43rd Canadian Parliament. That means all of us — with our different and sometimes conflicting values, needs and priorities. The Cowichan Valley (plus Langford and other communities) is far from a homogenous place. It’s full of diverse communities and diverse people. And it’s growing and changing so quickly. How should our Member of Parliament advocate for this region, for now and for the future?

We at The Discourse Cowichan have been thinking about the future of this region a lot. We’re barely two months from the turning of a new decade. What do the 2020s have in store, and how can we all participate in shaping that future? And how will we build bridges that connect the past to the future? Those are questions we plan to dig into in the closing months of 2019. You’ve told us you want more stories exploring how Cowichan communities are growing and changing, and how decisions are being made that will shape our collective future. 

Given our diverse, growing, changing community, what do you think should be on top of the priority list for Alistair MacGregor as he advocates in Ottawa for all of us? Send me an email. I’d love to hear from you. [end]