B.C. election 2017: Abbotsford-Mission riding

In 2013, BC Liberal Simon Gibson won more than 50 per cent (50.67 per cent) of the vote, nearly doubling the vote total of his NDP rival.

Abbotsford Mission is widely seen as one of the safest Liberal ridings in the province.

In 2009, Liberal Randy Hawes won the riding by more than 4,500 votes over NDP challenger Lynn Perrin, 58 to 33 per cent. Hawes, who was a Liberal MLA since 2001, returned to municipal politics, and now serves (again) as the mayor of Mission.

History & Geography: A riding created in 2009 to deal with the population growth in the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford-Mission encompasses the eastern suburbs of Abbotsford under Sumas Mountain with the eastern half of Mission, stretching out to Kent on the northern side. This riding has never elected the NDP, and the Liberals have often outpaced the NDP by a 10-to-1 vote margin in the suburbs.

Candidates

Liberals – Simon Gibson: Served as An Abbotsford councillor for three decades, beginning in the 1980s. Since his election to Victoria, he’s had a limited public profile but was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Education for Independent Schools in 2015.

NDP – Andrew Christie: Lives in Vancouver and has worked as a community food advocate with Gordon Neighbourhood House. Christie is also a “trained political fundraiser.”

Greens – Jennifer Holmes: Works in healthcare as a patient transfer driver, but has trained in architecture and civil drafting and worked in heritage restoration. A 15-year resident of the Fraser Valley.

Christian Heritage – Dan Cameron: 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.

2017 Stats: Abbotsford-Mission

Population (2014): 60,962 (9th)
Population Deviation from Average: 14.8 per cent
Area: 660 sq km (36th)
Pop Density: 92.4 (52nd)
Average Age: 38.5 years (73rd)
English as Second Language: 14.79 per cent (50th)

Top 3 Second Languages:
Panjabi (Punjabi) – 3.59 per cent
German – 2.39 per cent
Korean – 1.22 per cent