It’s been the safest of safe ridings for the BC Liberals for decades, but for first time in a generation, the ballot is filled with newcomers.
Five-term BC Liberal MLA Ralph Sultan announced last year that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election. The party appointed non-profit CEO Karin Kirkpatrick to hold the seat for the party. The NDP has chosen constituency assistant Amelia Hill for the uphill battle. The Green Party of BC has nominated SFU lecturer and tech PhD Rasoul Narimani for the ballot. And Anton Shendryk, the only independent candidate running on the North Shore, is looking to make his mark.
The Liberals routinely take 60 per cent or more of the popular vote, although that fell to 57 per cent in 2017. In that same election, the NDP and Greens posted their best ever result in the riding at 23 and 19 respectively. Former West Van mayor Mike Smith used to complain that voters in West Vancouver-Capilano were so reliably Liberal, the party could ignore the riding’s needs once they were in office.
Approximately 56 per cent of the riding’s eligible voters cast ballots in 2017, down from 60 per cent in the 2013 election.
Running from Upper Lonsdale in the east to Rodgers Creek in the west, the riding encompasses the British Properties, Ambleside, Dundarave, Grousewoods, Edgemont, Delbrook and Pemberton Heights – mostly neighbourhoods with high-end single-family homes.
The big issues:
Taxes
There was a small-scale revolt in 2018 when the NDP introduced a new school tax that would hike fees by 0.2 per cent on properties valued at more than $3 million and 0.4 per cent on homes assessed at more than $4 million. The luxury homes in the riding have also been coveted by speculators and subject to further taxes introduced by the NDP aimed at raising revenue and cooling the housing market.
Transportation
Home to the Lions Gate Bridge, one of the great bottlenecks of the Canadian West, traffic and transportation are always issues in the riding. But finding a palatable solution is easier said than done. No party has plans to expand the bridge and the electorate on the western side of the Capilano River spurned RapidBus (B-Line bus) service extending past Park Royal in 2019.
Housing
The riding has some of the highest housing prices in Canada, along with some of the lowest rental vacancy rates. West Vancouver council has been looking for ways to house its local workforce.
