In 2009: Liberal John van Dongen won the riding by over 5500 votes over NDP challenger Bonnie Rai, 59-25%.
History & Geography: A riding created in 2009 to deal with population growth in the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford South consists of the half of Abbotsford south of Old Yale Road, and anything south of Highway 1 from Langley to Chilliwack. Van Dongen has held the riding since a 1995 byelection, but decided to leave the party in 2012, becoming a BC Conservative. He then left the Conservatives six months later to sit as an independent. No NDP candidate has ever won a riding that contained Abbotsford.
Basic Stats:
Population: 53375 (47th)
Size: 211.1 km (42nd)
Density: 252.8 people/km (45th)
Odds and Ends: Everyone drives cars everywhere: In the 2005 census, 92.2% said they got to work in a bus, car, or van. This is also the most German riding in the province—in the last census, it was the mother tongue of 4.9% of residents.
Candidates
Liberals-Darryl Plecas: A criminologist, Plecas has degrees from Harvard, UBC, and SFU. He won “Citizen of the Year” from Abbotsford City Council in 2006 and is a RCMP University Research Chair in Crime Reduction & Director at the University of the Fraser Valley. The Liberals cleared the way for him to take the party’s nomination, after which he admitted “Staying on message will not be one of my fine points,” “I know dick about politics,” and “I’m just not into political BS—I’m probably the Antichrist of politics. I’m going tell it like it is.”
NDP-Lakhvinder Jhaj: A former reporter and producer for Global Okanagan, Jhaj is a small businesswoman. She ran for the NDP in the 2009 election in Boundary-Similkameen, finishing second to Liberal John Slater with 32% of the vote. She also has run for Penticton city council, and the Surrey-Tynehead NDP nomination. Before moving to Metro Vancouver, she served as a member of a number of Penticton community groups, including the Penticton Development Advisory Committee and Penticton Crime Stoppers.
Independent-John van Dongen: Since winning the riding of Abbotsford in a 1995 by-election, van Dongen has won four straight general elections in the region, usually winning by very lopsided margins. After serving in cabinet for eight years, van Dongen resigned as Solicitor-General in 2009 after he was suspended from driving by ICBC for repeated violations of the speeding limit. He resigned from the Liberals last year, and has since been critical of the party’s handling of the BC Rail controversy. He resigned from the Conservatives after leader John Cummings survived a leadership review.
Marijuana Party-Steve Finlay: A member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Finlay is one of two candidates for the BC Marijuana Party this election.
Excalibur Party-Patricia Smith: Smith is one of six candidates running for the BC Excalibur Party this election.
Comments