Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke

Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke stretches across the western suburbs and rural hinterland of Greater Victoria on southern Vancouver Island. The riding covers 404 square kilometres, taking in the Township of Esquimalt—home to Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, the Royal Canadian Navy's Pacific headquarters—along with the City of Colwood, the Town of View Royal, the District of Metchosin, and the District of Sooke. It also includes the western portion of the Municipality of Saanich, west of the Patricia Bay Highway, and the reserves of the Esquimalt, Songhees, T'Sou-ke, and Sc'ianew (Beecher Bay) First Nations. With a 2021 population of approximately 128,644 and 101,934 registered voters, the riding blends military families in Esquimalt, suburban households in Colwood and Langford's western fringe, hobby farms in Metchosin, and the semi-rural fishing and forestry community of Sooke on the southwestern coast.

Candidates

Randall Garrison (NDP) Born in 1950, Garrison taught criminology, political science, and Pacific Rim studies at Camosun College for over a decade. He also worked as a public policy researcher and director in the B.C. provincial government. Before entering federal politics, Garrison coordinated international election observation missions in East Timor and investigated human rights issues in Indonesia and Afghanistan. First elected in 2011, he served as the NDP critic for justice and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights.

Doug Kobayashi (Liberal) An Aerospace Engineering Officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force and a figure in the West Shore business community, Kobayashi advocated for expanding the green technology and renewable energy sector in the region.

Laura Anne Frost (Conservative) A professional forester and land management specialist, Frost was motivated to run in large part by her gratitude for Canadian veterans. She campaigned on the opioid crisis, animal welfare, and climate adaptation, including heat pump programs in response to the 2021 western Canadian heat dome.

Harley Gordon (Green Party) A Colwood resident pursuing a PhD in forest biology at the University of Victoria, Gordon has worked as a chemist, behaviour interventionist, and scientific communications writer. He teaches part-time at UVic.

About the Riding

The military presence defines much of Esquimalt's identity and economy. CFB Esquimalt is the home port of the Pacific Fleet and the largest federal employer in British Columbia west of Vancouver. The base employs thousands of military and civilian personnel and supports a network of defence contractors, ship maintenance facilities, and supply chain businesses. The Royal Roads University campus, a former military college, sits on 265 hectares of forested land in Colwood adjacent to the Hatley Park National Historic Site.

Rapid population growth in the West Shore communities of Colwood, Langford, and Sooke has strained transportation infrastructure. The Trans-Canada Highway and the Old Island Highway carry tens of thousands of commuters daily between the western suburbs and employment centres in downtown Victoria and Esquimalt, creating severe congestion bottlenecks. Transit service improvements—including the prospect of rapid bus service along the highway corridor—were a central issue in the 2021 campaign.

Housing affordability was arguably the dominant concern across the riding. Home prices in the Victoria region escalated rapidly through 2020 and 2021, with benchmark prices for single-family homes in the West Shore exceeding $800,000. Sooke, once considered a remote and affordable option, saw particularly sharp price increases as remote work enabled more buyers to accept a longer commute. The riding's environmental character—forested hillsides, waterfront parks, and proximity to the Juan de Fuca Trail and East Sooke Regional Park—remained a point of local pride and a factor in land-use debates over development density.