Prince George—Mackenzie

Prince George—Mackenzie was a large northern riding that included much of the city of Prince George, the province's largest city north of Kamloops, as well as the smaller community of Mackenzie roughly 200 kilometres to the north. The riding had been held by BC Liberal Mike Morris since 2013, and he was seeking re-election while serving as Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. Prince George was a working-class city with deep roots in the forestry and resource industries, and although the NDP had won seats in the city in the 1970s through the 1990s, the BC Liberals had swept every Prince George riding since 2001.

Candidates

Mike Morris (BC Liberal Party) — Morris had a distinguished 32-year career with the RCMP, which he joined in 1973 with his first posting in Prince George. He served across much of northern British Columbia through fourteen transfers, rising to the rank of Superintendent as the commanding officer for the RCMP's North District, responsible for policing the northern seventy-five percent of the province. He retired from the RCMP in 2005 and entered provincial politics, winning election in 2013. In December 2015, he was appointed Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

Bobby Deepak (BC NDP) — Deepak was a lawyer who grew up in Prince George. He held a criminology degree from Simon Fraser University and a law degree from the University of Ottawa. He founded North Labour Law in Prince George in 2006, focusing on administrative law, and taught at the College of New Caledonia. He had also been the NDP candidate in the riding in 2013.

Hilary Crowley (BC Green Party) — Crowley was a retired physiotherapist who lived at Summit Lake and provided physiotherapy services to rural communities across northern BC. She was active in outdoor recreation groups and her campaign emphasized sustainable resource harvesting and a transition toward renewable energy.

Local Issues

The forestry industry, the historic economic engine of both Prince George and Mackenzie, was under severe pressure from the aftermath of the mountain pine beetle epidemic. The beetle had devastated more than eighteen million hectares of BC forest over the preceding two decades, destroying the majority of the province's merchantable pine. The resulting loss of timber supply was leading to reduced harvests and mill closures across the central interior, and communities like Mackenzie that depended almost entirely on forestry faced an uncertain future.

The opioid crisis was emerging as a significant concern in Prince George and across the Northern Health authority region, which was experiencing some of the highest rates of illicit drug overdose deaths in the province. Access to addiction treatment, harm reduction services, and mental health supports in the north lagged behind what was available in the Lower Mainland. Public safety, an issue closely tied to Morris's ministerial portfolio, was also top of mind for residents who expressed concern about property crime and the social impacts of the drug crisis. The BC Liberal government's promotion of LNG development as a transformative economic opportunity for the north had not yet produced the promised investment, leaving some residents skeptical of the government's economic vision for the region.