Winning by just 41 votes, Selina Robinson was elected by the slimmest of margins in 2013 (redistribution increased her winning margin to 71), and she’ll be facing the same opponent, businessman Steve Kim, who has high standing in the local Korean community. The NDP has proved victorious here several times in the past, but it’s always close.
In 2009: New Democrat Diane Thorne squeaked out a victory by under 1,000 votes for the second straight election, defeating Dennis Marsden by 668 votes, 48 – 45 per cent.
History & Geography: Coquitlam-Maillardville has existed since 1979, going to the NDP in every election but 1983 and 2001. It has centred around the core of Coquitlam, and today consists of most parts of the city south of Barnett Highway, with the exception of some neighbourhoods in the northwest that border Port Moody. The suburbs closer to Mundy Lake and Colony Farm tend to support the Liberals, while NDP support is fairly evenly distributed through the riding.
Candidates
Liberals – Steve Kim: A small business owner, Kim is the founder and President of Boilingpoint Group, a marketing and communications firm. The former chair of the C3 Korean Canadian Society, Kim has degrees from Western University and Korea University.
NDP – Selina Robinson: Incumbent. The New Democrat opposition spokesperson for mental health and addictions, seniors, local government and sports. Prior to jumping into provincial politics, she was a two-term city councillor, and was the highest vote-getter in the 2011 civic election in Coquitlam. She has worked for SHARE Family & Community Services for over two decades and has a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.
Greens – Nicola Spurling: The chair of the Vancouver Pride Society Outreach Committee, Spurling has a background in project management, construction, sales, economics, research and marketing, according to her website.
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Libertarian – Jesse Velay-Vitow: A graduating physics major from SFU. In his time there he has been extensively involved in student leadership, as well as running a number of extra curricular clubs. He is the vice-president of both the Students for Liberty chapter as well as Generation Screwed, the youth arm of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. 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: Coquitlam-Maillardville
Population (2014): 58,351 (32nd)
Population Deviation from Average: 9.8 per cent
Area: 30 sq km (64th)
Pop Density: 1,945.0 (23rd)
Average Age: 41.1 years (44th)
English as Second Language: 38.68 per cent (26th)
Top 3 Second Languages:
Korean – 5.48 per cent
Mandarin – 3.46 per cent
Chinese, n.o.s. – 3.43 per cent
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