In 2013: BC Liberal Mike de Jong won handily, taking more than 50 per cent of the vote. This is a safe Liberal seat.
In 2009: Liberal Mike de Jong won the riding by over 3,500 votes over NDP challenger Taranjit Purewal, 56-32 per cent, his fifth straight election win.
History & Geography: A riding created in 2009 to deal with population growth in the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford West encompasses the western suburbs of Abbotsford, the core of the city north of Old Yale Road and the Mt. Lehman area to the west. The riding now includes parts of the former Fort Langley-Aldergrove riding.
This is a riding south of the Fraser between Surrey and Hope, and no such riding has ever gone to the NDP outside a by-election.
Candidates
BC Liberals’ Mike de Jong first took this area in 1994, winning a historically pivotal by-election in Matsqui over then-Social Credit leader Grace McCarthy, which effectively ended that party’s relevance. A cabinet minister for all 16 years that the BC Liberals have been in government, he currently sits as Finance Minister.
NDP’s Preet Rai is a three-term Abbotsford school Trustee. Rai is a chartered accountant with a long history of community service. Originally from India, he lived in the UK before coming to Canada in 1995.
Green Party’s Kevin Eastwood works as a grower in a Native Plant Nursery in Aldergrove. He was VP of inaugural class at Quest University and sits as a Council Member in the BC Institute of Agrologists.
Christian Heritage – Lynn Simcox: The Christian Heritage Party — a libertarian party with a Christian focus — is running five Candidates in 2017, after fielding two candidates in the 2013 provincial election.
Libertarian – Dave Sharkey: 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.
Independent – Daljit Singh Sidhu: In 2014, Sidhu ran unsuccessfully for Abbotsford city council, winning 3.3 per cent of the vote.
2017 Stats: Abbotsford West
Population (2014): 60,339 (15th)
Population Deviation from Average: 13.6 per cent
Area: 135 sq km (48th)
Pop Density: 447.0 (39th)
Average Age: 37.4 years (81st)
English as Second Language: 45.09 per cent (21st)
Top 3 Second Languages:
Panjabi (Punjabi) – 31.55 per cent
German – 4.84 per cent
Dutch – 1.00 per cent