A look at Liberal party losses in Metro shows how the votes shifted
The defeat of B.C. Liberal party candidates in a swath of Metro Vancouver ridings this week contributed significantly to its total loss of six ridings compared with the 2013 provincial election.
Delving into exactly how many votes the party gave up in some of these ridings — by comparing final results from 2013 and, for now, preliminary results from 2017 — gives more granular data on how votes shifted. This could be interesting, especially in some of the key and closer races, and also where several B.C. Liberal party, high-profile ministers got toppled.
A selection of such ridings show the Liberal party generally saw ballpark decreases of around 20 per cent, while the NDP saw increases hovering around 10 per cent.
In some cases, the Green party had some larger, double-digit increases off of much-smaller base numbers.
In Vancouver-Fairview, where the NDP’s George Heyman held his seat, the Liberals went from 11,298 votes in 2013 to 8,482 in 2017, a 25 per cent decrease. The NDP moved from 12,649 votes in 2013 to 13,958 in 2017, a 10 per cent increase. The Green party, meanwhile, clocked a 24 per cent increase, moving from 2,785 votes in 2013 to 3,453 in 2017.
Sam Sullivan of the Liberal party beat Morgane Oger of the NDP in a tight Vancouver-False Creek race separated by several hundred votes. However, the change in the number of votes shows a 17 per cent decrease for the Liberals from 11,228 in 2013 to 9,332 in 2017. The NDP surged from 7,085 votes to 8,772 for a 24 per cent increase, while the Greens went from 1,928 votes to 3,448 in 2017, for a 79 per cent increase.
In Vancouver-Fraserview, where Suzanne Anton, B.C. attorney general and minister of justice, lost her seat to the NDP’s George Chow, the Liberals saw a nine per cent decrease in votes, from 10,118 in 2013 to 9,171 in 2017. The NDP went from 9,648 votes in 2013 to 10,160 in 2017, for a five per cent increase, while the Greens saw a 28 per cent increase, from 1,230 votes in 2013 to 1,580 in 2017.
In North Vancouver-Lonsdale, where two-term MLA and cabinet minister Naomi Yamamoto lost her seat to the NDP’s Bowinn Ma, the Liberals saw a 16 per cent decrease in votes from 11,060 in 2013 to 9,336 in 2017. The NDP went from 9,872 votes in 2013 to 10,786 in 2017, a nine per cent increase, while the Greens surged 60 per cent, from 2,257 votes in 2013 to 3,617 in 2017.
In Surrey-Fleetwood, the Liberal minister responsible for TransLink, Peter Fassbender, lost to the NDP’s Jagrup Brar in a notable upset, going from 8,894 votes in 2013 for the Liberals to 6,659 in 2017, a 26 per cent decrease.
The NDP went from 8,774 votes in 2013 to 9,951 in 2017, for a 13 per cent increase, while the Greens moved from 1,147 votes in 2013 to 2,018 in 2017, or a 76 per cent increase.
Amrik Virk, Liberal minister of technology, innovation and citizens’ services, also lost his Surrey seat to the NDP’s Garry Begg in Surrey-Guildford, but the riding was redrawn in 2015, making it hard to compare with voting results from 2013.
In other closely watched Metro ridings such as Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, where the Liberals’ Joan Isaacs won with a tight 170vote lead over NDP incumbent Jodie Wickens, the Liberals recorded a three per cent decrease in votes from 9,766 in 2013 to 9,514 in 2017. The NDP, meanwhile, moved from 7,315 votes in 2013 to 9,344 in 2017, for a 28 per cent increase. The Greens went from 1,144 votes to 2,553, for a 123 per cent increase.
In Maple Ridge-Mission, where Liberal incumbent Marc Dalton lost his seat to the NDP’s Bob D’Eith by 120 votes, the Liberals showed a decrease of six per cent from 10,327 votes in 2013 to 9,723 in 2017, while the NDP moved from 8,820 votes in 2013 to 9,843 in 2017, for a 12 per cent increase. The Greens went from 1,818 votes to 3,181, for a 75 per cent increase.