Chilliwack - Fraser Canyon

Situated in the Lower Mainland, Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon runs north from the U.S. border along the Fraser River and includes the Harrison River/Lake valley north to Pemberton. The riding contains the city of Chilliwack, the district municipalities of Lillooet, Hope and Kent, and the villages of Pemberton and Harrison Hot Springs.

There are a number of First Nations reserves and the aboriginal population is about 12 per cent. Another 13 per cent are immigrants.

Major employers in the riding are the construction and manufacturing industries, retail trade and the service sector. The 2006 census shows an average family income of $66,138 and an unemployment rate of 6.7 per cent.

This riding was created in 2004 by combining about half of Fraser Valley with portions of Cariboo-Chilcotin, Dewdney-Alouette, Okanagan-Coquihalla and West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast.

Population: 112,118 (2006 census; an increase of 8.1% since 2001)

Political History

This was Social Credit territory through most of the 1950s and 1960s and Tory country in the 1970s and 1980s. After that, the Fraser Valley area went to the Reform/Canadian Alliance's Chuck Strahl. Under the Conservative banner, Strahl beat New Democrat Malcolm James by more than 16,500 votes in 2006.

Strahl's 2004 win over the NDP's Rollie Keith was by 14,852 votes. From the 2004 election to 2006, the NDP managed just a 0.3 per cent increase in its share of the vote.

Fraser Valley:

• 1921 - LIB
• 1925-35 inclusive - CON
• 1940-49 inclusive - LIB
• 1953, 1957 - SC
• 1958 - PC
• 1962, 1963, 1965 - SC

Fraser Valley East:

• 1968 - LIB
• 1972-88 inclusive - PC
• 1993, 1997 - REF
• 2000 - CA

Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon:

• 2004, 2006 - CON