A look at the new districts in B.C.’s fall election as legislature grows to 93 seats

The Oct. 19 election in British Columbia will feature new electoral districts that increase the number of seats in the legislature from 87 to 93. Here is a look at some of the new seats:

Vancouver

The biggest change in Vancouver is the creation of three seats from an area largely covered by Vancouver-False Creek and Vancouver-Fairview in the last election. The new ridings are Vancouver-Yaletown, Vancouver-South Granville and Vancouver-Little Mountain.

The NDP took both previous seats in 2020, with Economic Development Minister Brenda Bailey now standing in Vancouver-South Granville. Bailey’s current seat, Vancouver-False Creek, was won by the BC Liberals, now BC United, in 2009, 2013 and 2017. The other incumbent, Environment Minister George Heyman in Vancouver-Fairview, will not run.

The candidate list for the three new seats are littered with familiar names in Vancouver municipal politics. The NDP is represented by Coun. Christine Boyle in Vancouver-Little Mountain, while the B.C. Conservatives are running with former park board commissioner and mayoral candidate John Coupar. The Conservatives have also named former councillor Melissa De Genova as the candidate in Vancouver-Yaletown.

Burnaby/New Westminster

The area’s seat count rises from five to six, with Burnaby-New Westminster created from surrounding Burnaby-Edmonds, New Westminster and Burnaby-Lougheed. Borders were also shuffled and all districts received new names except Burnaby North.

The NDP took all five seats comfortably in 2020 and the party has done well there in recent years. All but one of the incumbents, Burnaby-Lougheed’s Katrina Chen, are running for re-election including Speaker Raj Chouhan and cabinet ministers Jennifer Whiteside and Anne Kang.

Surrey

Surrey gains one seat, Surrey-Serpentine River, but also sees drastic changes to its district boundaries. Surrey-Green Timbers and Surrey-Whalley have been reorganized into two new ridings, Surrey City Centre and Surrey North.

Surrey-Serpentine River was created from parts of nearby districts, including Surrey-Cloverdale, Surrey-Panorama and Surrey-Fleetwood.

The NDP won seven of nine Surrey-area seats in 2020, picking up Surrey-Cloverdale that had historically favoured the BC Liberals. Most incumbent NDP candidates are running for re-election, but Surrey-Newton’s Harry Bains and Surrey-Whalley’s Bruce Ralston, both cabinet ministers, will not run.

Notable candidates include former Surrey mayor Linda Hepner running for the Conservatives in Surrey-Serpentine River and high-profile BC United defector Elenore Sturko standing as a B.C. Conservative in Surrey-Cloverdale.

Langley

Langley saw its two seats in the 2020 election divided into three with the creation of Langley-Willowbrook, Langley-Walnut Grove and Langley-Abbotsford.

The NDP scored a major victory here in 2020, winning both seats that had been held by the BC Liberals for decades. Both incumbents return and are joined by former federal Liberal MP John Aldag who will run in Langley-Abbotsford. He resigned from Parliament in May to run in the provincial election for the NDP.

Other candidates include Langley Township Coun. Misty vanPopta running for the Conservatives in Langley-Walnut Grove.

Langford

Greater Victoria’s additional seat comes in the suburb of Langford, where Langford-Highlands was carved out mostly from Langford-Juan de Fuca, with the rest of that district renamed Juan de Fuca-Malahat for this fall’s election.

The area is considered an NDP stronghold, with Langford-Juan de Fuca held by former premier John Horgan from 2009 to 2023.

Kelowna

A new electoral district, Kelowna Centre, was created from parts of three surrounding ridings: Kelowna-Mission, Kelowna West and Kelowna-Lake Country.

The latter two have also been renamed West Kelowna-Peachland and Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream to reflect other boundary changes.

The area was traditionally a stronghold for the BC Liberals, which won all three seats comfortably in 2020. But none of the incumbents are running this year. The most high-profile candidate in the four Kelowna-area seats is Gavin Dew, who’s running for the B.C. Conservatives in Kelowna-Mission. Dew ran for the leadership of the BC Liberals in 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.

The Canadian Press