Held by BC Liberal incumbent Dan Ashton, who boosted his party’s vote by 1,200 in the last election, but the NDP went up 2,900 (probably because there was inexplicably no Green candidate; the Greens received almost 3,700 votes in 2009 and will be running a candidate in this election, which should hurt the NDP more than the Liberals).
This riding demonstrates how hard it may be for the NDP to get over the finish line. It’s only won this riding when the vote was split on the centre-right. The NDP’s hopes were given a boost from the party’s good showing in this area in the last federal election. Depending on how other ridings split, the NDP may need to win this riding to form a government.
In 2009: Liberal Bill Barisoff won his fourth straight election, defeating NDP candidate Cameron Phillips by over 3,000 votes, 44-31 per cent.
History & Geography: A descendant of the old Similkameen riding, Penticton was made the centre of its own riding in 1991. In that year the riding went to the NDP in a three-way race, but otherwise has gone to the Liberals. The riding’s current boundaries include Peachland, Summerland, and Chute Lake to the north. Historically, the city centre of Penticton has been a swing area, while Summerland, Peachland, and the Penticton suburbs have supported the Liberals.
Candidates
BC Liberals – Dan Ashton: Incumbent. Parliamentary secretary for the Minister of Finance. Before entering provincial politics, Ashton served two terms as mayor or Penticton and three terms on council.
NDP – Tarik Sayeed: A Penticton city councillor, Sayeed was born in Bangladesh and came to Canada to study engineering, earning an undergraduate degree and an MBA. He founded a tech company that translates sign language into text and audio.
Green – Connie Sahlmark: An Okanagan College student in her third year of the Sustainable Construction Management Technologies program.
2017 Stats: Penticton
Population (2014): 56,722 (46th)
Population Deviation from Average: 6.8 per cent
Area: 1,908 sq km (29th)
Pop Density: 29.7 (59th)
Average Age: 50.5 years (6th)
English as Second Language: 12.76 per cent (55th)
Top 3 Second Languages:
German – 3.14 per cent
Panjabi (Punjabi) – 1.44 per cent
Dutch – 0.80 per cent
Comments