Decision BC: Richmond Centre

In 2009: Rob Howard became the third different Liberal in as many elections to win this seat, defeating NDP candidate Kam Brar by over 5500 votes, 61-29%.

History & Geography: Created in 1991 when the riding was divided into three parts, Richmond Centre is bordered by Blundell Road to the south and Garden City to the east. It also includes Sea Island. With the exception of 1972, Richmond has never elected an NDP candidate.

Basic Stats:

• Population: 66035 (3rd)

• Size: 32 km (58th)

• Density: 2063.6 people/km (25th)

Odds and Ends: English was the mother tongue of just 29.75% of people in this riding last census—the lowest number in B.C.

Candidates

Liberals-Teresa Wat: A media executive, Wat is President and CEO of CHMB AM 1230. She is the former news director at Omni, and was named one of the province’s 100 most influential women by the Vancouver Sun in 2010. She has also served as a communications advisor for the government, and graduated from the University of Hawaii.

NDP-Frank Huang: A media executive, Huang is editor-in-chief of Global Chinese Press, a twice-weekly newspaper distributed in major cities throughout Canada. He won a Jack Webster Award for Best Reporting – Chinese Language, and has degrees from universities in China and France, and sits on the Asian Campaign Committee of the Richmond Hospital Foundation.

Greens-Michael Wolfe: A teacher, Wolfe has been a Green Party candidate in the 2011 and 2008 federal elections, the 2009 and 2005 provincial elections, and the 2005 and 2008 civic elections. He has been involved with the Garden City Lands Coalition and Farmland Defence League Of BC, along with other environmental groups.

Conservatives-Lawrence Chen: A BC Wildlife hunting safety instructor and examiner, Chen has an MBA from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia.

Unparty-Chanel Donovan: The co-founder of the Unparty, Donovan is an accountant and office manager with a local law firm. The Unparty aims to run British Columbia through consensus decision-making, and was previously known as the People’s Senate Party.

Independent-Gary Law: A Burnaby RCMP constable, Law took a leave of absence to run for the Liberals, but was denied the opportunity when the Liberals made Wat their acclaimed candidate. An officer for over 20 years, Law was born and raised in Hong Kong and graduated from Dalhousie University.

Independent-Richard Lee: A lawyer, Lee ran to be Mayor of Richmond, but finished in second with 30% of the vote. He has formerly been a school trustee in Merritt and Burnaby.