Conservative Party of BC candidate for MLA in Saanich South, a former Central Saanich councillor and past board chair of the Victoria Airport Authority.
Cathie Ounsted is the Conservative Party of BC candidate in Saanich South, a district where Lana Popham of the BC NDP won in 2024. She was elected to Central Saanich council in 2011 for a term to December 2014, and was board chair of the Victoria Airport Authority in 2023 and 2024. In 2025 she ran federally for the Conservative Party of Canada in Saanich-Gulf Islands and finished third. The Times Colonist reports that her 2026 statement names health care access, safer communities and a stronger economy as her focus.
A researched record of Cathie Ounsted's public roles and the statements found for her 2026 Saanich South campaign. She holds no public office now, so there is no current voting record to review.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Cathie Ounsted
Elections BC lists Cathie Ounsted as the candidate in Saanich South with the affiliation Conservative Party. The party lists her on its team page and has a candidate page for her. The Times Colonist reported on September 23, 2026 that she had announced she was seeking the Conservative nomination, after Lana Popham said she would not run again.
Saanich South is held by Lana Popham of the BC NDP. In 2024 Popham won the district with 15,338 votes (49.76 percent). Conservative Adam Kubel had 10,003 votes (32.45 percent) and Ned Taylor of the BC Green Party had 5,485 (17.79 percent). Ounsted was not a 2024 candidate.
The District of Central Saanich declared her elected as a councillor on November 23, 2011, for a term ending in December 2014. She received 2,915 votes, the most of the six councillors declared elected. In her 2011 candidate answers to the Times Colonist she listed the Central Saanich Police Board from 2003 to 2009 as political experience.
Victoria Airport Authority annual reports list her as board secretary in 2021, board vice-chair in 2022 and board chair in 2023. She attended the authority's May 2024 public meeting as board chair. At the May 2025 meeting the new chair thanked her as past board chair, and the authority's current board page does not list her. The Times Colonist article of September 2026 still calls her the chair; voche.me follows the authority's own records.
In the federal election of April 28, 2025 she was the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands. Elections Canada's official results give her 20,015 votes (25.1 percent), third behind Elizabeth May of the Green Party and David Beckham of the Liberal Party.
Saanich News reports that she worked for the Victoria Police Department, spent 10 years as director of operations at Thrifty Foods, and has worked 19 years as controller at her family's accounting firm. It also reports a decade on the Peninsula Co-op board. The party says she owned the Red Barn Market. voche.me has not checked these roles with the employers or the co-op.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
9 commitments shown · Checked Sep 30
2026 · Public servicesCampaign pledge
Improve access to health care
The Times Colonist reports that her campaign statement says she is dedicated to improved access to health care.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The words are the Times Colonist's summary of her statement. voche.me could not read the statement itself. It names no measure, number, cost or date.
What still needs checking
Which health care measures does she name for Saanich South?
The party's platform page lists a plan titled Get BC Building, described as a plan to end the housing shortage and make life more affordable. The page says the platform is coming soon and does not name Ounsted.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. voche.me found no 2026 statement by Ounsted on housing.
What still needs checking
Does the party publish the plan, and does Ounsted speak on it?
Conservative Party of BC plan on economic reconciliation
The party's platform page lists a plan titled Economic Reconciliation, Healthy Communities, for partnerships, economic development and respect for Indigenous governance. The page does not name Ounsted.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. voche.me found no 2026 statement by Ounsted on reconciliation.
What still needs checking
Does the party publish the plan, and what does it say about the Declaration act?
Conservative Party of BC plan on government spending
The party's platform page lists a plan titled A Free and Prosperous BC that says the party will get government working for taxpayers. The page does not name Ounsted.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. voche.me found no 2026 statement by Ounsted on taxes or the budget.
Her council seat and airport authority roles come from official records. Both are roles, so they earn no score.
Official record
Elected to Central Saanich council
The District of Central Saanich declared her elected as a councillor with 2,915 votes, for a term ending in December 2014.
Scope, limits and sources
An election result and a seat on council are a role, not a dated action, so this entry earns no score. voche.me could not open the council minutes for 2011 to 2014, so no vote of hers is listed.
The authority's 2023 annual report lists her as board chair. The 2021 report lists her as board secretary and the 2022 report as vice-chair. The May 2025 meeting summary thanks her as past board chair.
Scope, limits and sources
The date marks the year of the 2023 report; the report gives no start date for the chair role. A board office is a role, so this entry earns no score.
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Statement
Statement on seeking the Saanich South nomination
The Times Colonist reports that she said in a statement she is dedicated to health care access, safer communities and a stronger economy, and that a social media post said she was encouraged by a "groundswell" of support.
Written answers as the federal Conservative candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands on housing, public safety, health care, transportation, cost of living, the environment and trade. Earlier campaign for another office, so it is not counted as a 2026 commitment.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
News coverage / Original publishers
Read the reporting
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
Times Colonist · Cindy E. Harnett
Zussman and Ounsted seek Popham's seat
Reports her bid for the Conservative nomination in Saanich South and the NDP candidacy of Richard Zussman, after Lana Popham said she would not run again.
Sources checked September 30, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
No campaign website of her own was found: votecathie.ca forwards to the party candidate page. Her Facebook page and her Instagram account (cathie4sgi) show only a sign-in page, and the X account cathie4sgi listed in 2025 returned "page not found", so no post is used. Her 2026 campaign statement and the social media post the Times Colonist describes could not be read, so her three priorities come from the newspaper's summary. The Times Colonist of September 23, 2026 calls her chair of the Victoria Airport Authority. The authority's May 2025 meeting summary calls her past board chair and its current board page does not list her, so voche.me does not repeat the present-tense title. The party candidate page labels her "Interim Conservative Party Leader". The party's own team page names Lorne Doerkson as leader, so voche.me does not repeat that label. Her Central Saanich Police Board years (2003 to 2009) come from her own 2011 candidate answers and were not checked with the police board. Her decade on the Peninsula Co-op board, her work with the Victoria Police Department and Thrifty Foods, her accounting firm and the Red Barn Market come from Saanich News or the party and were not checked with those organizations. Central Saanich council minutes for 2011 to 2014 returned HTTP 403, so no council vote of hers is listed. Whether she ran in the 2014 Central Saanich election was not found. No party release naming her, no all-candidates meeting in Saanich South, and no campaign finance or endorsement record were found on this date.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on 2026-09-30: the Elections BC candidate list and key dates, the 2024 statement of votes, the party's candidate, team and platform pages, the District of Central Saanich 2011 election results, Victoria Airport Authority annual reports and meeting summaries for 2021 to 2025, the Peninsula Co-op board page, Elections Canada's 2025 results, and reporting from the Times Colonist, Saanich News, CHEK News and Capital Daily.
Her only 2026 policy statement found is the Times Colonist summary of her campaign statement. No campaign website of her own was found: votecathie.ca now forwards to the party page. Her Facebook and Instagram accounts could not be read without signing in. An empty section records what voche.me did not find on this date.
03 / Background
Experience & community
2025
Conservative Party of Canada candidate, Saanich-Gulf Islands
Finished third with 20,015 votes (25.1 percent) in the April 28, 2025 federal election, according to Elections Canada.
Board secretary in the 2021 annual report, vice-chair in the 2022 report and board chair in the 2023 report. Thanked as past board chair at the May 2025 public meeting.
Saanich News reports work with the Victoria Police Department, 10 years as director of operations at Thrifty Foods and 19 years as controller at her family's accounting firm.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
Which health care measures would you support for Saanich South, with what number of doctors, nurses or beds, and by when?
No response has been submitted.
What does "safer communities" mean in practice: which provincial programs or laws would you change?
No response has been submitted.
Which parts of your party's platform, still marked "coming soon" on 2026-09-30, will you campaign on?
No response has been submitted.
Have your own question?
Ask Cathie Ounsted directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
05 / About this page
Questions about this page
Facts voche.me can state about Cathie Ounsted's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Cathie Ounsted?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Cathie Ounsted's own campaign.
What party is Cathie Ounsted running with?
Cathie Ounsted is running for MLA with Conservative Party of BC.
Does Cathie Ounsted currently hold public office?
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Cathie Ounsted.
How many sources does this Cathie Ounsted profile cite?
This profile lists 6 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Why do some questions on Cathie Ounsted's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Cathie Ounsted in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
When is the election Cathie Ounsted is running in?
The 2026 British Columbia election, including the MLA race, is decided on October 24, 2026.
06 / Candidate contributions
Space for campaign updates
No campaign updates yet
Announcements, event details and messages can be added here, with their source and publication date. No campaign submission has been added.
