5 Metro Vancouver ridings to watch in the 2015 federal election

With election mode in full force, Canadians have plenty of choices ahead of the polls opening in a matter of weeks. While some ridings will undoubtedly remain unchanged, there are still some exciting scenarios to keep track of, especially with the recent redrawing of riding lines.

With that in mind, here are five of the more interesting ridings to keep an eye on in Metro Vancouver.

Burnaby North-Seymour

A new riding for the 2015 election, Burnaby North-Seymour takes part of the contested Burnaby Douglas riding and throws in a chunk of North Vancouver for good measure. What makes this riding noteworthy is the fact that the Burnaby portion saw a narrow victory for the NDP in the past election, with Kennedy Stewart eking out a win for the orange by just 1,000 votes over the Conservatives’ Ronald Leung.

With part of the Conservative-held North Vancouver thrown in, we could see a chunk of Burnaby’s orange crush wash away. Former District of North Vancouver Councillor Mike Little will be running for the Tories while Terry Beech will represent the Liberals. Retired Judge Carol Baird Ellan is the NDP candidate for the area. For the Greens, SFU professor Lynne Quarmby will be hoping to bank on the anti-pipeline sentiment felt by many of the area’s residents.

 

Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam

With longtime Conservative MP and cabinet minister James Moore bowing out of politics (for now) and his former riding of Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam now split into two, it will be interesting to see if MLA Doug Horne has what it takes to carry the Tory torch. While currently sitting as an MLA for the BC Liberals, Horne is hoping this election will be his ticket to Ottawa.

Standing in his way will be former journalist Sara Norman for the NDP, Ron McKinnon for the Liberals and Brad Nickerson for the Greens.

Port Moody-Coquitlam

The other half of James Moore’s former riding currently has NDP’s Fin Donnelly as its incumbent MP, who shifted over from the previous riding New Westminster-Coquitlam. As Donnelly pulled out a narrow victory by just 4.5% in the 2011 election, and with the apparent ease Moore was elected in his own former riding, Port Moody-Coquitlam could very well go easy way come October 19.

Afghanistan veteran Tim Laidler is running for the Conservatives and, along with Donnelly, will be facing the City of Vancouver’s Chief Digital Officer, Jessie Adcock, for the Liberals and realtor Marcus Madsen for the Greens.

South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale

With Conservative Russ Hiebert deciding against seeking re-election for the position he held since 2004, this riding will have a new MP on October 20. Traditionally a Conservative stronghold, the riding is worth watching as it marks the federal debut of Surrey’s former Mayor, Dianne Watts, who the Conservatives hope will keep the riding blue.

The riding was without a Liberal candidate as Joy Davies withdrew on September 10 following remarks she had made on Facebook regarding marijuana usage. However, the Party acted quick to replace her with former Surrey City Councillor Judy Higginbotham on September 15.

Representing the NDP will be Beverly Hobby, while Larry Colero stands in for the Greens.

Surrey-Newton

With riding borders changed for this election, the residents of Surrey-Newton will decide if NDP incumbent Jinny Sims will keep her seat. Before the riding lines were redrawn for this election, some voters fell under Conservative Nina Grewal, the incumbent in Fleetwood-Port Kells.

Keeping things interesting, former MP Sukh Dhaliwal is making another run at the federal scene for the Liberals, having previously served from 2006 to 2011. In the 2013 provincial election, he had also also put his name forward as a BC Liberal candidate but withdrew after being charged with tax evasion related to a business of his, which he later pled guilty to.

Journalist Harpreet Singh will run for the Tories while Pamela Sangha will be running for the Greens.

 

Originally published on PoliBuzz.ca, a new blog created in time for the 2015 federal election. Find political news, opinion, debate coverage, polls, truth trackers and more.