Incumbent:
Harjit Sajjan (Liberal | 2015)
Candidates:
Liberal: Gregor Robertson
Conservative: Avi Nayyar
New Democratic: Manoj Bhangu
Green: Alexander Dow
People’s: Desiderio Magtanggol (Bonn) Reyes
2021 Results:
Liberal - 42 per cent
New Democratic - 31 per cent
Conservative - 22 per cent
People’s - three per cent
Green - one per cent
Stretching across Boundary Road to combine Burnaby south of Imperial Drive with most of the old Vancouver South riding, Vancouver-Fraserview South Burnaby is the most diverse district in the entire City of Vancouver. With Harjit Sajjan retiring, the Liberals knew they needed a candidate larger than life to hold such a complex district.
Enter Gregor Robertson. Despite announcing his departure seven years ago as Vision Vancouver came crashing down, the former mayor of Vancouver had never fully scratched the itch after leaving city hall. An entrepreneur and BC NDP MLA before making the jump to municipal politics, he continued his advocacy work by serving as the global ambassador for the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy. When Braeden Caley, his former press secretary turned top Carney advisor, came knocking, Robertson knew he couldn’t say no.
While the former mayor is well acquainted with Vancouverites, it has been more than a decade since his last election. Robertson will have to re-familiarize himself with the residents of Sunset, Victoria-Fraserview and Killarney, not to mention Jagmeet Singh’s former constituents in the Burnaby portion of the riding. To do so, he’ll have to lean into his old networks in Vancouver’s Chinese community, who make up a near majority of the population in the quasi-suburban southeastern corner of the city. Traditionally Conservative and never the biggest fans of Vision Vancouver, the mayor’s name recognition could nonetheless deliver a useful boost here.
Sunset and Burnaby will be more complex. Beyond the 37 per cent of residents who have a Chinese background, there are also significant Punjabi and Filipino communities. The NDP are hoping to tap into support here with their candidate, Manoj Bhangu. With six years as a director on the board of Black Top Cabs, Bhangu has a good network of support among workers in the industry here. To mount a strong showing, he will have to hope that the NDP’s lead in Burnaby is not merely because of Singh’s pull as leader there.
The Conservatives arguably have the greatest hill to climb. Their candidate, Avi Nayyar, a lawyer and Realtor, has to reverse the party’s slide in support since Wai Young’s 2019 loss and broaden its appeal beyond the motivated, Chinese Canadian core of support Young tapped into in Victoria-Fraserview.
Ultimately, Robertson is well-positioned with the Liberals’ broad support of the riding. The NDP will try to make inroads among Sunset’s working-class voters whilst holding onto its core vote among the Champlain Heights co-ops, while the Conservatives will look to copy their provincial cousin’s strong showing in parts of Langara to dent Robertson’s margins. For Robertson, the task is simpler. By tapping into Sajjan’s network among South Asian community groups and fusing it with his own contacts from a decade as mayor, he can afford to spend the time introducing himself to voters in Burnaby in order to win a thumping victory.
Hugh Chan is a UBC student specializing in international relations and data science.
