2005 Candidates (as received from Elections B.C.):
- Olga Ilich, BC Liberal Party
- Dale Jackaman, New Democratic Party of B.C.
Districts Profile:
Richmond Centre encompasses Sea Island (home of the Vancouver International Airport), as well as that portion of Richmond south to Blundell Road, east to Garden City Road, and north to the Fraser River. The airport is the main employer here; industrial parks also abound. The average family income is $55,574 – well below the B.C. norm – but unemployment is a fairly low 7.1 per cent. This riding is distinct for having B.C.'s largest proportion of immigrants: 61.8 per cent. It also has the highest proportion of ethnic Chinese: 57.4 per cent. Overall, the visible minority population is 64 per cent – B.C.'s fifth highest. Finally, at 56,792, this riding has the province's seventh-highest overall population.
Political History:
The incumbent in Richmond Centre is Liberal Greg Halsey-Brandt. In 2001 he collected nearly 72 per cent of the total votes, winning five times the ballots of runner-up Jaana Grant of the NDP. Fellow Liberal Doug Symons, who won office in 1991 by beating New Democrat Brian Collins and retained his seat five years later with a 4,202-vote win over New Democrat Doug Black, preceded Halsey-Brandt here. In the 1960s, '70s and '80s this area was in the old Richmond riding, which was largely a Socred stronghold. That party's Jim Nielsen was MLA here from 1975-86, at which time the riding became a two-member district, ushering in Socreds Nick Loenen and Bill Vander Zalm (previously a Surrey MLA). Vander Zalm served as premier from 1986-91.
In 2001, the voter turnout in Richmond Centre was 69.1 per cent – just below the provincial average.
Main > Districts 
