TWICE TO THE POLLS

This month West End - Coal Harbour citizens will make two trips to the polls: the first on October 17 to elect a mayor, ten councillors, seven Park Board commissioners, and nine Vancouver School Board Trustees, and the second on October 24 to choose our representative to the provincial legislature.

BC PROVINCIAL ELECTION
Saturday, October 24

At press time (4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28) only two candidates had been declared for West End - Coal Harbour, the incumbent MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert and Green Party challenger Donald Scott MacDonald. The bios below were provided by their respective parties.

THE NDP

Spencer Chandra Herbert has proudly represented Vancouver's West End since 2008, when he was first elected as MLA for Vancouver-Burrard (now Vancouver-West End) as the youngest member of the legislature. He has been re-elected six times since.

Most recently, Spencer served as Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, working in partnership with First Nations to implement the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and advance modern treaties that build a stronger BC for everyone. He previously served as Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport, where he drew on a lifetime in the arts to champion BC's creative sector, tourism industry and athletes. He has also served as Deputy Speaker of the Legislature.

Before entering provincial politics, Spencer was an award-winning artist and performing arts producer. From 2005 to 2008, he was an elected member of the Vancouver Park Board.

Spencer is best known for leading the successful fight to protect transgender people under BC's Human Rights Code. He is also known for standing up against illegal evictions and unfair rent increases, advocating for wild salmon protection, and promoting the arts.

His work to reduce homelessness led to the founding of Vancouver's Rent Bank, which has helped keep thousands of people in their homes. In the legislature, he helped restore government funding to thousands of charities through gaming grants and to the BC Arts Council. His advocacy also helped lead to the creation of Destination BC and Creative BC.

Spencer remains committed to renters' protections, indigenous reconciliation, environmental stewardship, LGBTQ2S+ rights, and the arts. You can regularly find him setting up his mobile office on street corners in the West End and Coal Harbour to hear directly from the community.

Spencer enjoys singing karaoke, riding his bike, and exploring B.C.'s beautiful wilderness with his husband, Romi, and son, Dev.

**Green party candidate donald scott macdonald.**

BC GREEN PARTY

Donald Scott MacDonald is a recently retired physician and longtime downtown Vancouver resident running to represent Vancouver-West End. After more than three decades in medicine, including the last twenty years practising in downtown Vancouver, Donald is bringing his experience in healthcare, addictions medicine, and patient advocacy to public service.

Donald’s medical career has taken him across Canada, from northern Manitoba and Nunavut to Toronto and Vancouver. His work has included primary care, emergency and hospital medicine, HIV/AIDS care, Hepatitis C treatment, addictions medicine, and methadone maintenance. From 2004 until his retirement in 2026, he worked as a primary care physician in Vancouver with a particular focus on addictions.

Earlier in his career, Donald served as Medical Director of Casey House Hospice in Toronto, worked with the HIV programs at St. Paul’s Hospital and the Wellesley Hospital, provided primary care in isolated northern communities, and served as a physician with the Canadian military in Halifax.

Throughout his career, Donald has advocated for patient-centred care, disability justice, and stronger supports for people affected by substance use. His professional experience has given him a firsthand understanding of the importance of accessible healthcare, safe communities, and public systems that meet people where they are.

Growing up in Nova Scotia, Donald witnessed the environmental damage caused by acid rain, an experience that helped shape his commitment to protecting the natural world. Today, he believes British Columbia has the tools to build a cleaner, safer, more inclusive, and more prosperous future.

Donald holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Mount Allison University and a medical degree from Dalhousie University. He also completed a rotating internship at the University of Ottawa. In 2025, he ran federally in Vancouver Centre for the Green Party of Canada.

Donald is running to represent Vancouver-West End with a focus on accessible healthcare, safe neighbourhoods, a strong economy, and a sustainable future for the next generation.