Gwen O'Mahony

Gwen O'Mahony
MLA for Chilliwack-Hope
In office April 19, 2012 – April 16, 2013
Preceded by	Barry Penner
Succeeded by	Laurie Throness
Personal details
Born	(1971-11-02) November 2, 1971 Campbell River, British Columbia
Political party	BC Conservative (2023—present)
Other political affiliations	New Democratic Party (until 2023)
Residence(s)	Nanaimo, British Columbia
Education	Master of Business Administration, Master of Science (International Management), Bachelor of Science (General Studies)
Alma mater	Vancouver Island University, University of Hertfordshire, Univ. of the Fraser Valley
Occupation	Business Owner - O'Mahony Consulting

Gwen O'Mahony (born November 2, 1972) is a Canadian politician, who represented Chilliwack-Hope in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from April 2012 until April 2013 as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party, and is now a member of the Conservative Party of British Columbia.

She was the first New Democratic Party candidate and the first woman to win the riding of Chilliwack-Hope. Before getting elected as an MLA, she worked for 18 years with the developmentally disabled at a group home. In an interview, she expressed her shock at being elected. "I'm a regular person, I know what it is like when prices go up, because I've lived paycheque to paycheque.", she said.

Gwen is the oldest of seven children and has family members that have battled addiction across generations. Overnight, she had to take over the guardianship of two of her nieces and became their single parent as her sister was unable to care for them. She had to set aside her education and cut back on her work hours. "Going to the courts to get guardianship, that was what sparked my desire to become politically active. I knew I would survive this with the girls, and we are going to have a life. But I saw vulnerable people falling through the cracks." she said.

Putting in shifts at the group home while struggling to find affordable childcare is what led her to the New Democratic Party. When she spoke to a group of New Democrats to explain how government cuts to child-care funding affected the general population, they encouraged her to stand as a candidate. As the sole breadwinner for her family, it was a difficult decision to make since it would mean giving up her steady wage to campaign. It meant burning up her holiday time and taking unpaid leaves all with no guarantee of a payoff. "It was a great gamble." she said.

Her first campaign, in the 2009 election, had limited budget as the NDP preferred not to invest heavily in a riding they had no expectation of winning. Which meant it was mostly her and her campaign manager. They lost the election to the B.C. Liberal incumbent, Barry Penner. With Mr. Penner's resignation in January 2012, the equation changed. Low on the polls due to its move adopting the HST, and the B.C. Conservatives were eating into the Liberals' vote base. This gave the NDP the opportunity to replace Mr. Penner. Ms. O'Mahony put up a fight and won the party nomination. Top party officials sent in veteran organizers. A large campaign office was set up and over 200 campaign staff worked the phones and distributed signs and leaflets. On April 19, she won the difficult by-election which meant a packed campaign party where she was toasted with champagne and was asked to get ready for media interviews starting at 6 a.m. the following day.

O'Mahony was previously the party's candidate in Chilliwack-Hope in the 2009 provincial election, as well as running federally for the New Democrats in Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon in the 2011 federal election. In the 2013 provincial election, O'Mahony was defeated by BC Liberal Party candidate Laurie Throness, the same Liberal candidate she had faced in the 2012 by-election. In 2021, O'Mahony unsuccessfully sought the federal NDP nomination for Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

On April 3, 2024, O'Mahony was unveiled as the BC Conservative candidate for Nanaimo-Lantzville in the 2024 British Columbia general election. Gwen lost the election to George Anderson of the BC NDP.

Electoral record

2013 British Columbia general election: Chilliwack-Hope
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Laurie Throness	10,053	49.15
	New Democratic	Gwen O'Mahony	7,364	36.01
	Conservative	Michael Henshall	2,202	10.77
	Independent	Ryan Ashley McKinnon	833	4.07
Total valid votes			20,452	100.00
Total rejected ballots			117	0.57
Turnout			20,569	57.38
Source: Elections BC

British Columbia provincial by-election, April 19, 2012: Chilliwack-Hope
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Gwen O'Mahony	6,022	41.89	+8
	Liberal	Laurie Throness	4,593	31.95	-22
	Conservative	John Martin	3,615	25.15	+18
	Libertarian	Lewis Dahlby	145	1.01
Total valid votes			14,375
Total rejected ballots			26
Turnout			14,401	41.12
"Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Port Moody-Coquitlam and Chilliwack-Hope By-elections" (PDF). Elections B.C. Retrieved March 7, 2013.

2011 Canadian federal election: Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Strahl	28,160	57.20	-5.12
	New Democratic	Gwen O'Mahony	12,691	25.78	+7.02
	Liberal	Diane Janzen	5,320	10.81	+2.29
	Green	Jamie Hoskins	2,706	5.50	-3.27
	Western Block	Clive Edwards	180	0.37	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Dorothy-Jean O'Donnell	173	0.35	+0.11
Total valid votes/expense limit			49,230	100.00
Total rejected ballots			152	0.31	+0.04
Turnout			49,382	58.99	+1
Eligible voters			83,713

2009 British Columbia general election: Chilliwack-Hope
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Barry Penner	8,985	53.28	$67,073
	New Democratic	Gwen O'Mahony	5,638	33.43	$18,541
	Conservative	Hans Mulder	1,198	7.10	$250
	Green	Guy Durnin	951	5.64	$350
	People's Front	Dorothy-Jean O'Donnell	93	0.55	$260
Total valid votes			16,865
Total rejected ballots			95	0.56
Turnout			16,960	51.85
"Chilliwack-Hope B.C. Votes". CBC.ca. Retrieved April 12, 2009.

External links

• Gwen O'Mahony
• Gwen O'Mahony