Joan McIntyre did what most expected she would in Tuesday's provincial election but she lost some of the support her predecessor had in the 2001 election.
The BC Liberal Party candidate for West Vancouver-Garibaldi, Joan McIntyre, convinced 11,090 people to vote for her according to preliminary election results. She won 50.78 per cent of the votes cast. Ted Nebbeling took 68 per cent of the vote in 2001.
New Democrat Lyle Fenton of Squamish and Green Party Deputy Leader Dennis Perry both improved their parties' results from 2001.
Perry placed second overall in the riding, with 5,778 votes (26.46 per cent), up from 17 per cent in 2001.
Fenton placed third in the overall tally. The greatest NDP success in the riding came from Squamish, where Fenton won 26 of 31 polls. Fenton swept all the polls in Brackendale, Valleycliffe (including Britannia Beach) and Squamish (including downtown, Dentville and the North Yards area) and tied McIntyre in the Garibaldi Highlands area, with each candidate winning four polls and one poll tied.
After the election, Fenton said he expected to do well in Squamish.
"I wasn't predicting quite as much as what came out," Fenton said. "I'm not overly surprised because I'm known here and have a bit of a track record.
"I got good comments and good response in West Vancouver but it is hard to reach everyone."
Fenton's campaign suffered a setback when his campaign office was broken into either Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Cpl. Dave Ritchie of the Squamish RCMP reported a TV, stereo system, a computer and a printer were stolen from the office in the Mountain View building on Second Avenue.
Ritchie said access to the office was gained by prying open a deadbolt.
Fenton feels the break-in was not politically motivated, though it made it more difficult for campaign workers to contact voters on election day.
McIntyre swept into the MLA's chair in Victoria on strong support from West Vancouver and broad support across the riding.
"I worked hard there [Squamish], and I realized going in that it is Lyle's hometown and he served on council there, and would have good support," said McIntyre.
"It's just beginning to sink in," McIntyre said. "I have a huge task ahead of me."
She said she's in limbo until she gets up to speed on what happens next and her immediate plans are to get oriented and get some sleep.
"I think this next mandate is going to look very different," McIntyre said. "I think we got the tough mandate behind us now, and we're going to start to see some of the results of what we've started in the last four years.
"To have gotten 50 per cent in a three-way race is very gratifying."
There was a fourth candidate. Barbara Ann Reid of the BC Conservative Party picked up 435 votes (1.99 per cent) overall.
The referendum result indicates that about 57 per cent of the voters across the province supported a change to the Single Transferable Vote (STV). Voters in this riding were more supportive, with about 62 per cent casting yes ballots.
To be successful, the referendum had to be supported by more than 60 per cent of the voters.
Voter turnout in West Vancouver-Garibaldi was just over 60 per cent.
