Conservative Party of BC candidate for MLA in Esquimalt-Colwood, an electrician who led a northern BC group that backed LNG development.
Dave Johnston is the Conservative Party of BC candidate in Esquimalt-Colwood. He has not held elected office and did not run in the district in 2024. The party describes him as an electrician and a Canadian Ranger who founded The North Matters, a Kitimat group that campaigned for resource projects. voche.me found no campaign website and no 2026 policy statement from him on 2026-09-30.
A researched record of Dave Johnston's candidacy in Esquimalt-Colwood. voche.me found no elected office in his record, so it found no voting record to review, and no 2026 policy statement from him was found on 2026-09-30.
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 Dave Johnston
Elections BC lists Dave Johnston as the Conservative Party of BC candidate in Esquimalt-Colwood. The party introduced him as its candidate in a post on X on September 27, 2026. On 2026-09-30 the Elections BC list also names Darlene Rotchford of the BC NDP, the district's sitting MLA. The Times Colonist also lists Sidney Coles of the BC Green Party.
His name is not on the 2024 results for Esquimalt-Colwood. In 2024 Darlene Rotchford won the district with 15,238 votes (51.47 percent). The Conservative candidate then, John Wilson, received 8,652 votes (29.22 percent).
The party's candidate page says he was born in Prince Rupert, grew up in Campbell River and now lives in Colwood. It says he studied at Camosun College, earned his Red Seal as an electrician from BCIT, worked at Mount Milligan and on the Rio Tinto Alcan upgrade project in Kitimat, and has served for the past ten years as a Canadian Ranger in the Canadian Armed Forces. voche.me has not checked these claims with the schools, the employers or the Department of National Defence.
The party says he founded The North Matters, a nonprofit group in Kitimat. CKPG Today reported in April 2019 that Kitimat electrician Dave Johnston had helped stage rallies for the group in several northern towns. In an October 2018 guest column in the Georgia Straight, signed as chair of the group, he wrote in support of the LNG Canada project.
The Walrus reported in March 2026 that Dave Johnston, an electrician raised on Vancouver Island, worked for the Haisla Nation Council as manager of capital projects and asset management, and quoted him on plans to protect Kitamaat Village from coastal flooding. The party says he worked with the Haisla Nation for more than three years.
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.
1 commitments shown · Checked Sep 30
Earlier term · EconomyNot established
Support for LNG Canada (2018)
In an October 2018 guest column, signed as chair of The North Matters, he wrote that projects like LNG Canada should be considered and supported, for the jobs and tax revenue they bring to northern BC.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
This is a 2018 opinion written before his candidacy. No 2026 page from him or the party repeats it, so it earns no score. It names no provincial measure, number, cost or date.
What still needs checking
Does his 2026 campaign state a position on LNG or other resource projects?
His past work comes from the party and from reporting. The one dated action is his work leading The North Matters, a group that campaigned for resource projects in northern BC.
Reported by an independent news outlet
Rallies for The North Matters in northern BC
CKPG Today reports that, as the founder of The North Matters, he helped stage rallies over several months in northern BC towns, including at a resource forum in Prince George on January 23.
Scope, limits and sources
The date is the Prince George event that CKPG Today names; the article was published on April 10, 2019. The group campaigned for LNG and other resource projects. It held no public office.
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Statement
Guest column in support of LNG Canada
Signed as chair of The North Matters, the column says northern towns need the jobs the LNG Canada project would bring, and that the project would lower global emissions by replacing coal in other countries.
Interviewed by The Walrus about flooding in Kitamaat Village
Speaking as the Haisla Nation Council's manager of capital projects, he described a high tide that almost flooded the village's main road and said the nation had applied for federal money for coastal protection. He said there are studies showing sea-level rise and that the community needs to prepare.
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
Listed among Vancouver Island candidates
The newspaper's list of Vancouver Island candidates, last updated on September 30, 2026, names him as the B.C. Conservative candidate in Esquimalt-Colwood.
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 or personal social media account was found. No 2026 statement from him on any provincial issue was found, and the party platform page says the platform is coming soon, so no issue has a 2026 position. The party's candidate page labels him "Interim Conservative Party Leader"; the party's own team page lists him only as the Esquimalt-Colwood candidate, so voche.me does not repeat that label. His service as a Canadian Ranger, his Red Seal, his studies at Camosun College and BCIT, and his work at Mount Milligan and on the Rio Tinto Alcan project are stated by the party only; voche.me has not checked them with the Department of National Defence, the schools or the employers. A David Johnston ran for mayor of Kitimat in 2018. No page read on 2026-09-30 ties that person to this candidate, so the race is left out. The North Matters' registration as a society was not checked in the BC Registry. All-candidates meetings in the district, campaign finances and endorsements were not 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 page, the 2024 statement of votes, the party's candidate, team and platform pages, the party's post on X introducing him, his VoteMate page, and reporting from the Times Colonist, The Walrus, CKPG Today and the Georgia Straight.
No campaign website, personal social media account or 2026 policy statement from him was found on this date. The party platform page says the platform is coming soon. The only policy statement on this page is from 2018, so it earns no score. An empty section records what voche.me did not find on this date.
03 / Background
Experience & community
2026
Candidate for MLA, Esquimalt-Colwood
Listed by Elections BC with the affiliation Conservative.
A Kitimat nonprofit group that campaigned for LNG and other resource projects. The Walrus reports he started it in 2016. The Georgia Straight names him as its chair in 2018.
The party says he holds a Red Seal from BCIT and worked at Mount Milligan and on the Rio Tinto Alcan upgrade in Kitimat. CKPG Today and The Walrus describe him as an electrician.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
What are your three main commitments to voters in Esquimalt-Colwood, and how would you measure each one?
No response has been submitted.
Do you still hold the views on LNG and resource projects you wrote in 2018, and what would you do about them as an MLA?
No response has been submitted.
What would you change about housing costs and transit for people on the West Shore and in Esquimalt?
No response has been submitted.
Have your own question?
Ask Dave Johnston 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 Dave Johnston's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Dave Johnston?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Dave Johnston's own campaign.
What party is Dave Johnston running with?
Dave Johnston is running for MLA with Conservative Party of BC.
Does Dave Johnston currently hold public office?
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Dave Johnston.
How many sources does this Dave Johnston profile cite?
This profile lists 5 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Why do some questions on Dave Johnston's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Dave Johnston 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 Dave Johnston 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.
