Naomi Yamamoto is the long-term incumbent. The NDP has won here once, in 1991, but only because of a split on the right between the B.C. Liberals and the Social Credit Party. Note the relatively big gap in the vote split in 2013 (Yamamoto gained 700 votes from 2009 but the NDP went up by 2,100, which is significant). The Greens went up by 450 (in affluent ridings, such as this one, the Greens seem to poach a fair number of voters from the B.C. Liberals).
For the NDP to win a majority government, it likely needs to win this seat.
In 2013: Yamamoto beat her NDP opponent by a margin of 45.5 per cent to 40.6 per cent.
In 2009: Yamamoto won in her first election, defeating the NDP’s Janice Harris by over 2,500 votes, 49-37 per cent.
History & Geography: Created in 1991 to deal with population growth on the North Shore, North Vancouver-Lonsdale consists of the City of North Vancouver, along with a few blocks next to Burrard Inlet on either side. The riding went to the NDP’s David Schreck in 1991, but has gone to the Liberals every time since.
Candidates
Liberals-Naomi Yamamoto: The Minister of State for Emergency Preparedness, Yamamoto was first elected in 2009, becoming the first person of Japanese ancestry to become an MLA in British Columbia. Prior to that, she was president of the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, and owned Tora Design, a printing and design business.
NDP – Bowinn Ma: A professional engineer and project manager, Ma works as YVR’s manager of major capital construction projects. Much of her early campaign work has focused on the terrible traffic on the North Shore.
Greens – Richard Warrington: A teacher, Warrington has run as a Green candidate before, in the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding. He returned to Canada in 2012, after living in Denmark for 25 years.
Libertarian Party – Donald N.S. Wilson: The Libertarian party is running 30 candidates, four times as many as in 2013. They have been running candidates in B.C. since 1986, but have never come close to winning a seat.
2017 Stats: North Vancouver-Lonsdale
Population (2014): 57,431 (41st)
Population Deviation from Average: 8.1 per cent
Area: 25 sq km (67th)
Pop Density: 2,297.2 (21st)
Average Age: 41.5 years (43rd)
English as Second Language: 31.22 per cent (32nd)
Top 3 Second Languages:
Persian (Farsi) – 6.93 per cent
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) – 3.10 per cent
Korean – 2.24 per cent
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