- Incumbent: Selina Robinson (Independent | 2013)
- Candidates:
- NDP: Jennifer Blatherwick
- Conservative: Hamed Najafi
- Green: Nicola Spurling
- 2020 Results:
- NDP – 59%
- Liberal – 29%
- Green – 12%
- Description:
- Once a hotly contested battleground between the NDP and the BC Liberals, Selina Robinson turned it into a safe seat with impressive performances in both 2017 and 2020. With Robinson out of cabinet and elected politics after a nasty mixup over Israel/Palestine, the NDP’s challenge now is to hold the riding without a 3-term incumbent.
- Fortunately for the Dippers, they have a strong bench in the riding. School board trustee Jennifer Blatherwick was nominated relatively early, and the scandal in the spring doesn’t seem to have done much damage to the NDP here at least. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have nominated low-profile engineer Hamed Najafi, and the Greens have nominated construction owner Nicola Spurling for the third time.
- If there’s anything for Blatherwick to sweat about, it might be redistricting. Redistribution has packed in some polls in Chineside and Harbour Chines that were competitive in 2017 into the riding, both of which have homes on expansive lots and were narrowly won by the Conservatives federally in the last 2 elections. Najafi should also look to Cape Horn if he wants to be competitive.
- For the New Democrats, polls around Austin Heights, Burquitlam, and Maillardville tend to be good for them as well, and the party does particularly well on the border with Burnaby along the Trans-Canada Highway. Redistribution has added the Coquitlam’s Town Centre to the riding, which is staunchly federal Liberal with the New Democrats usually tied with the Conservatives. Considering the ethnic makeup of the riding, this may indicate that they’ve made inroads with the Korean population here as well.
- With the federal Liberals and New Democrats combining for 65% of the vote in 2021, Coquitlam-Maillardville is one of the more lefty ridings in the Tri-Cities quartet. Combining young families with renting professionals in condos, the Conservatives may find more fertile ground elsewhere in the region.
Hugh Chan is a second year student at UBC studying International Relations and Data Science. You can find more coverage of the 2024 BC election as well as politics across East Asia and the Anglosphere at https://x.com/shxnhugh.
