West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country

West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country
British Columbia electoral district
West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country in relation to the other British Columbia ridings
Federal electoral district
Legislature House of Commons
MP
 
 		  
John Weston
Conservative
District created 1996
First contested 1997
Last contested 2008
District webpage profile, map
Demographics
Population (2006) 129,241
Electors (2011) 95,764
Area (km²) 13,259
Pop. density (per km²) 9.7
Census divisions
Census subdivisions Whistler, Squamish, West Vancouver, Lions Bay, Sechelt, Bowen Island, North Vancouver, Powell River, Gibsons, Pemberton

West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country (formerly West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997.

Contents

Geography

The district includes the regional districts of Sunshine Coast and Powell River (excluding Lasqueti Island), the southern portion of the Squamish–Lillooet Regional District, including the municipalities of Whistler, Squamish, and West Vancouver, Lions Bay and Bowen Island., which are in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

History

The electoral district was created as "West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast" in 1996 from parts of Capilano—Howe Sound and North Island—Powell River ridings.

In 2003, it was re-named "West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country." At 48 characters, this is the current longest riding name in Canada.

The riding or electoral district is also the first to have been represented in Parliament by a member of the Green Party, Blair Wilson. Elected as part of the Liberal party, he crossed the floor later in his career to become a member of the Green Party representing West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country. However, this came immediately before the 2008 federal election, in which he was defeated, and he never had the opportunity to sit in the House as a Green MP.

Members of parliament

This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:

Parliament Years Member Party
Capilano—Howe Sound and North Island—Powell River prior to 1996
West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast
36th 1997–2000     John Reynolds Reform
2000     Canadian Alliance
37th 2000–2003
2003–2004     Conservative
West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country
38th 2004–2006     John Reynolds Conservative
39th 2006–2007     Blair Wilson Liberal
2007–2008     Independent
2008     Green
40th 2008–2011     John Weston Conservative
41st 2011–present

Current Member of Parliament

West Vancouver-based lawyer John Weston won election in the 2008 federal election for the Conservatives, following a narrow defeat by Liberal Blair Wilson in the 2006 federal election. Weston's legal activities included the establishment of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, founding of Vancouver-based legal firms along with firms in Taiwan, and service with the Department of Constitutional Affairs in Alberta, Quebec, and Newfoundland.[1] During the 40th Parliament, he was a member of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

Former Members of Parliament

The first Member of Parliament to represent the riding was John Reynolds, a former sales and marketing consultant. He was first elected in the 1997 election. He was a member of the Reform Party, and its successors the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party. He served as a member on the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. Reynolds did not run in the 2006 general election.

Liberal Blair Wilson was elected in the 2006 federal election. Wilson, a chartered accountant and a failed restaurant owner,[2] was the first Liberal MP for the historically Conservative riding. He lost to former MP John Reynolds in the 2004 federal election. Wilson resigned from caucus in October 2007 after allegations of improper campaign spending and failure to mention several legal and financial troubles during three nomination vetting processes.[3] He remained a Liberal but not in caucus. In January 2008, Wilson became an Independent. He then joined the Green Party on August 30, 2008, becoming its first MP. Running under the Green banner in the election called only days later, he was defeated by Conservative John Weston.

Election results

West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     Conservative John Weston* 28,614 45.53 +0.96
     New Democrat Terry Platt 14,828 23.59 +9.16
     Liberal Daniel Veniez 14,123 22.47 -4.10
     Green Brennan Wauters 4,436 7.06 -7.37
Progressive Canadian Roger Lagassé 293 0.47 -
     Libertarian Tunya Audain 250 0.40 -
     Western Block Party Allan Holt 156 0.25 -
     Marxist–Leninist Carol Lee Chapman 87 0.14 -
     Canadian Action Doug Hartt 64 0.10 -
Total valid votes/Expense limit 62,851 100.00
Total rejected ballots 221 0.35 +0.01
Turnout 63,072 64.17 -0.28
Eligible voters 98,293
Canadian federal election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     Conservative John Weston 26,949 44.57 +8.60 $94,785
     Liberal Ian Sutherland 16,069 26.57 -10.93 $74,135
     New Democrat Bill Forst 8,728 14.43 -5.63 $18,762
     Green Blair Wilson* 8,723 14.43 +8.20 $95,067
Total valid votes/Expense limit 60,469 100.00 $100,350
Total rejected ballots 208 0.34 +0.12
Turnout 60,677 64.45 -4.1
     Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +9.8
Canadian federal election, 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     Liberal Blair Wilson 23,867 37.50 +4.99 $82,304
     Conservative John Weston 22,881 35.97 +0.68 $86,639
     New Democratic Party Judith Wilson 12,766 20.06 -1.66 $50,621
     Green Silvaine Zimmermann 3,966 6.23 -3.49 $3,532
     Marxist-Leninist Anne Jamieson 155 0.22 +0.02 $0
Total valid votes 63,635 100.00
Total rejected ballots 144 0.23 0.0
Turnout 63,635 68.6 +2.6
     Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +2.2
Canadian federal election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     Conservative John Reynolds 21,372 35.29 -21.95 $81,933
     Liberal Blair Wilson 19,685 32.51 +5.45 $81,023
     New Democratic Party Nicholas Simons 13,156 21.72 +15.01 $29,779
     Green Andrea Goldsmith 5,887 9.72 $28,167
     Canadian Action Marc Bombois 321 0.53 $117
     Marxist-Leninist Anne Jamieson 123 0.20
Total valid votes 60,544 100.00
Total rejected ballots 139 0.23 -0.06
Turnout 60,683 66.00 +2.81
     Conservative notional hold Swing -13.70

Change from 2000 is based on redistributed results. Conservative change is from combination of Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance votes.

West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast

Canadian federal election, 2000
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     Canadian Alliance John Reynolds 25,546 47.96 $65,492
     Liberal Ian McKay 14,169 26.60 $60,517
     Progressive Conservative Kate Manvell 4,993 9.37 $5,777
     New Democratic Party Telis Savvaidis 3,351 6.29 $9,069
     Green Jane Bishop 2,605 4.89 $3,816
     Marijuana Dana Larsen 1,618 3.03
     Canadian Action Marc Bombois 976 1.83 $3,227
Total valid votes 53,258 100.00
Total rejected ballots 155 0.29 -0.11
Turnout 53,413 63.81 -2.99
Canadian federal election, 1997
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     Reform John Reynolds 20,092 40.05 $62,107
     Liberal Phil Boname 17,318 34.52 $62,278
     New Democratic Party Clark Banks 5,988 11.93 $9,548
     Progressive Conservative Dave Thomas 4,194 8.36 $36,317
     Green Lisa Barrett 2,318 4.62 $935
     Natural Law David Grayson 254 0.50
Total valid votes 50,164 100.00
Total rejected ballots 199 0.40
Turnout 50,363 66.80

See also

References

  1. ^ http://johnweston.ca/Default.aspx?cat=1
  2. ^ http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=f7e84f8f-2a47-43b9-abc1-0034bcec288f
  3. ^ http://www.thestar.com/News/article/288319

Sources

External links

New Democratic
Conservative
North Vancouver • Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam • Vancouver South • West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country
Liberal
British Columbia Interior
Fraser Valley and
the Southern Lower Mainland
Vancouver and
the Northern Lower Mainland
Vancouver Island