Cowichan Valley (electoral district)

Cowichan Valley is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, established by the Electoral Districts Act, 2008 out of parts of Cowichan-Ladysmith and Malahat-Juan de Fuca. It was first contested in the 2009 general election in which New Democrat Bill Routley was elected MLA.

Cowichan Valley

British Columbia electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
MLA	Debra Toporowski New Democratic
District created	2008
First contested	2009
Last contested	2024
Demographics
Population (2006)	55,040
Area (km²)	1,681.67
Pop. density (per km²)	32.7
Census division(s)	Cowichan Valley Regional District
Census subdivision(s)	Duncan, North Cowichan, Lake Cowichan

Geography

Cowichan Valley is located on southern Vancouver Island, in the region surrounding the Cowichan River. Communities in the electoral district consist of Duncan, Lake Cowichan, Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay, Cobble Hill, Maple Bay, and the southern portion of North Cowichan.^[1]

History

Cowichan Valley
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
Riding created from Cowichan-Ladysmith and Malahat-Juan de Fuca
39th	2009–2013		Bill Routley	New Democratic
40th	2013–2017
41st	2017–2020		Sonia Furstenau	Green
42nd	2020–2024
43rd	2024–present		Debra Toporowski	New Democratic

Election results

Graph of election results in Cowichan Valley (minor party results are summed as "other")

v t e 2024 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Debra Toporowski	11,795	40.5%	-4.2
	Conservative	John Koury	10,946	37.6%	+37.6
	Green	Cammy Lockwood	5,773	19.8%	-19.1
	Independent	Eden Haythornthwaite	341	1.2%
	Unaffiliated	Jon Coleman	263	0.9%
Total valid votes			29,118	–
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered voters
	New Democratic notional hold		Swing		-20.9
Source: Elections BC[2]

2020 provincial election redistributed results[3]
Party		%
	New Democratic	44.7
	Green	38.9
	Liberal	16.4

v t e 2020 British Columbia general election: Cowichan Valley
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Green	Sonia Furstenau	13,059	44.21	+6.97	$64,313.52
	New Democratic	Rob Douglas	11,875	40.20	+8.57	$55,431.43
	Liberal	Tanya Kaul	4,606	15.59	–12.07	$15,360.48
Total valid votes			29,540	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			150	0.51	+0.18
Turnout			29,690	59.85	–7.73
Registered voters			49,606
	Green hold		Swing		–0.80
Source: Elections BC[4][5]

v t e 2017 British Columbia general election: Cowichan Valley
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Green	Sonia Furstenau	11,449	37.24	+18.09	$35,322
	New Democratic	Lori Lynn Iannidinardo	9,723	31.63	−8.51	$54,416
	Liberal	Steve Housser	8,502	27.66	−7.24	$70,112
	Independent	Ian Morrison	502	1.63	–	$8,140
	Libertarian	James Robert Anderson	302	0.98	–	$398
	Independent	Samuel Lockhart	145	0.47	–	$0
	Independent	Eden Haythornthwaite	119	0.39	–	$996
Total valid votes			30,742	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			100	0.33	+0.01
Turnout			30,842	67.58	+5.68
Registered voters			45,641
Source: Elections BC[6][7]

v t e 2013 British Columbia general election: Cowichan Valley
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Bill Routley	10,696	40.14	−8.26	$59,185
	Liberal	Steve Housser	9,299	34.90	−0.81	$46,299
	Green	Kerry Davis	5,102	19.15	+7.36	$19,753
	Conservative	Damir Wallener	1,223	4.59	+1.03	$9,705
	Independent	Heather Alanna Campbell	326	1.22	–	$1,050
Total valid votes			26,646	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			86	0.32	−0.05
Turnout			26,732	61.90	−0.64
Registered voters			43,183
Source: Elections BC[8]

v t e 2009 British Columbia general election: Cowichan Valley
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Bill Routley	12,548	48.40	$83,418
	Liberal	Cathy Basskin	9,258	35.71	$55,515
	Green	Simon Lindley	3,058	11.79	$8,900
	Conservative	Jason Murray	924	3.56	$1,594
	Refederation	Michial Rupert Moore	139	0.54	$343
Total valid votes			25,927	100.00
Total rejected ballots			97	0.37
Turnout			26,024	62.54
Registered voters			41,612