In 2009: Liberal Pat Pimm defeated independent Arthur Hadland by just over 1000 votes, 43-31%.
History & Geography: The larger, more rural of the two Peace River ridings, Peace River North was created in 1956. The towns of Fort St. John and Fort Nelson are the largest population centres in this sparsely populated riding, which encompasses the most northeast section of the province. It has gone to the Social Credit, Reform, and Liberals parties, but the NDP have never received more than 30% of the vote.
Basic Stats:
Population: 39335 (73rd)
Size: 175808 km (2nd)
Density: 0.2 people/km (84th)
Odds and Ends: Though it went to the Social Credit party for decades, Richard Neufeld won the riding as a member of Social Credit in 1991, Reform BC in 1996, and the BC Liberals in 2001 and 2005.
Candidates
Liberals-Pat Pimm: A Fort St. John city councillor for 12 years, Pimm was elected in 2009 after Richard Neufeld stepped down after 17 years in office to accept a Senate appointment. In 2011 he resigned from BC Liberal caucus after being arrested over a domestic incident, but rejoined caucus after prosecutors announced no charges would be laid.
NDP-Judy-Fox McGuire: A union activist, Fox-McGuire has been a vice-chairperson with the BCGEU. She has worked as a probation officer for the last ten years, and has a criminology degree from Simon Fraser University.
Independent-Arthur Hadland: A farmer, Hadland is the director of Electoral Area C in the Peace River Regional District. He ran against Pimm in the 2009 election, but finished in second place. He is the former chair of the North Peace Savings & Credit Union Board, and was named B.C.’s Agrologist of the Year in 2001.
Conservatives-Wyeth Sigurdson: An oil patch worker, Sigurdson works at Spectra Engery McMahon plant. He was born in Fort St. John, and grew up in Cecil Lake.
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