2005 Candidates (as received from Elections B.C.):
- Jed Anderson, Green Party of BC
- Timothy Lee Felger, British Columbia Marijuana Party
- Robert Arthur Klassen, DR BC
- Taranjit Purewal, New Democratic Party of B.C.
- Michael G. de Jong, BC Liberal Party
District Profile:
Abbotsford-Mount Lehman encompasses the Fraser Valley communities of Matsqui and Clearbrook, as well as the Matsqui maximum-security prison and part of Abbotsford airport. The riding is bordered by Gladwin and Clearbrook roads in the east, the U.S. boundary on the south, the Abbotsford municipal boundary on the west, and the Fraser River in the north. Though becoming more suburban, this is the most intensely farmed area of B.C., producing dairy products, poultry and berries. Agriculture and manufacturing are the two main industries. The average family income is $54,733 – well below the provincial average – and the unemployment rate, at 9.7 per cent, is above the average. At 13.6 per cent, this riding has the province's fifth-highest percentage of people with less than a Grade 9 education. Immigrants make up 31 per cent of the population; this riding has the fourth-highest East Indian population in B.C. at 34.2 per cent.
Political History:
The incumbent in Abbotsford-Mount Lehman is Liberal Michael de Jong, the minister of forests. His 2001 win was by a 5-to-1 margin over runner-up Taranjit Purewal of the NDP. He first gained office in a byelection in 1994, defeating Grace McCarthy of the Social Credit party by just 42 votes. In the 1996 general election he handily repelled New Democrat Deb Charrois by 5,554 votes. De Jong's predecessor was the Social Credit Party's Peter Dueck, who defeated Liberal David Warman by 1,805 votes in 1991 before resigning in 1994. Dueck was an incumbent from the old Central Fraser Valley riding, which this area was part of before 1991. MLAs there included the Socred's Bill Ritchie (1979-86) and, when it was a two-member seat, Dueck and fellow Socred Harry De Jong (both 1986-91).
In 2001, voter turnout in Abbotsford-Mount Lehman was 71.4 per cent – just above the provincial average.
/p>
Main > Districts 
