West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country-Mostly of Chinese Decent

West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country

by Staff on September 5th, 2008  

Justin Trudeau targeted the riding for votes

Map of West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country

Key demographic indicators (2006 census)

Population: 129,250
English as a mother tongue only: 87,075
Lived at the same address five years ago: 66,350
Number of immigrants: 39,425
Visible minority population: 27,980
Chinese descent: 7,185
West Asian descent: 5,450
South Asian descent: 3,715
Korean descent: 3,285
Filipino descent: 3,200
Aboriginal descent: 2,305
Median age: 44.9
Percentage of single detached houses: 63.9 %
Number of owned dwellings: 40,290
Number of rented dwellings: 13,330
Median income (2005 all families): $78,231
Median income (2005 married couples): $88,152
Median income (2005 common-law couples): $79,587
Median income (2005 lone-parent families): $45,596

This is a geographically diverse riding that includes the million-dollar mansions of West Vancouver and the ski chalets of Whistler, as well as a large number of blue-collar workers living in such communities as Powell River, Pemberton, and Squamish. Toss in the communities of Lions Bay and Sechelt, and it’s clear that this is not a one-size-fits-all riding.

It has the oldest median age, 44.9, of any federal riding in Metro Vancouver. It also has one of the highest percentages of residents living in single detached homes.

In addition, this riding has the country’s first Green party MP, Blair Wilson, who switched after being suspended from the Liberal caucus and told that he wasn’t welcome to seek a nomination.

Wilson is in a legal fight with his deceased mother-in-law’s husband, wealthy apartment owner Bill Lougheed. Elections Canada cleared Wilson of any “serious financial wrongdoing” after the issue erupted in the Province newspaper. Wilson rung up $9,000 in printing costs that he didn’t count as election expenses.

Lawyer John Weston, who argued against the Nisga'a treaty in court, is running for the second consecutive time for the Conservatives. His party held this riding when John Reynolds was the MP until he retired in 2006.

The Liberals have recruited Squamish mayor Ian Sutherland. The NDP nominated Dana Larsen, a strong opponent of drug prohibition and senior manager of the Vancouver Seed Bank. But he resigned as a candidate when video footage appeared of him smoking pot and doing LSD on Pot-TV. On September 20, the NDP nominated Bill Forst, a retired school counsellor who lives in Gibsons.