North Island--Powell River

North Island — Powell River is the largest federal riding on Vancouver Island, stretching from the Comox Valley and eastern Courtenay northward to Port Hardy at the island's tip, then crossing Johnstone Strait to encompass Powell River, Texada Island, and a vast section of British Columbia's Central Coast on the mainland. The riding's 2021 population of approximately 126,000 is dispersed across communities including Campbell River, Comox, Powell River, Port McNeill, and Port Hardy, connected by long stretches of highway through temperate rainforest. The region lies within the traditional territories of numerous First Nations, including the K'omox, Wei Wai Kum, and Homalco peoples.

Candidates

Rachel Blaney (NDP) Raised in Terrace, BC, by an adoptive Stellat'en First Nation family, Blaney earned a Bachelor of Arts in First Nations Studies from Malaspina University-College (now Vancouver Island University). She worked with the Homalco First Nation before becoming executive director of the Immigrant Welcome Centre of North Vancouver Island. Her husband is a former chief and councillor of the Homalco First Nation. First elected in 2015, she served as the NDP's party whip beginning in 2019.

Shelley Downey (Conservative) A municipal councillor in Port McNeill serving her fourth term, Downey was first elected as a school trustee in School District 85 in the 1990s before entering municipal government in 2005. Raised in northern BC, she has deep firsthand experience with the challenges facing rural resource-dependent communities. She also ran in the riding in 2019.

Jennifer Grenz (Liberal) A member of the Lytton First Nation, Grenz is an Indigenous scholar and sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia, where she completed her PhD in integrated studies and land systems — examining the application of Indigenous worldviews to ecology. She runs Greener This Side, an invasive species management and ecological restoration company based in Parksville.

Jessica Wegg (Green Party) The Green Party candidate for the riding, Wegg ran on a platform centred on environmental protection, sustainable forestry, and community-based economic development on Vancouver Island and the Central Coast.

About the Riding

The economy of North Island — Powell River is built on natural resources. Forestry, commercial fishing, aquaculture, and mining have sustained these communities for generations, though all have experienced significant contraction and restructuring. Campbell River — once marketed as the "Salmon Capital of the World" — remains an important service centre for the northern island, and its economy has diversified into tourism, health care, and retail. Powell River's large pulp and paper mill, long the town's dominant employer, has undergone repeated downsizing, and the community has worked to attract retirees, artists, and remote workers as economic alternatives.

The Johnstone Strait, separating the northern island from the mainland coast, is the summer home of approximately 150 orca whales — a population central to both Indigenous culture and a growing ecotourism industry. Sport fishing, kayaking, and whale watching draw visitors from around the world to communities like Telegraph Cove and Alert Bay.

Health care access is a persistent concern across the riding. With its population spread over enormous distances, residents in remote communities often face long drives to Campbell River or Comox for specialist appointments and hospital services. The riding's median age skews older than the national average, compounding demand for medical care. Housing affordability has emerged as a growing issue even in smaller communities, as migration from larger urban centres — accelerated during the pandemic — has driven up prices in places like Powell River and the Comox Valley. About 11.5% of the riding's population are immigrants, with the largest groups born in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany.