Langley

This riding lies between the Fraser River and the U.S. border. It contains the city of Langley, the District Municipality of Langley and the Katzie, Matsqui and McMillan Island reserves.

More than 17 per cent of residents are immigrants and about three per cent are aboriginal. English is the mother tongue of 84 per cent of the population, French of just one per cent and a non-official language of over 14 per cent. German, Korean and Dutch are the top three in the latter category.

This riding's economy relies on manufacturing, construction, retail trade and the service sector. There are numerous small to mid-sized businesses. The 2006 census shows an average family income of $88,900 and an unemployment rate of 3.8 per cent, the lowest in the province.

The riding of Langley-Abbotsford was established in the 1996 redistribution. It became Langley in 2004, through the merger of two-thirds of Langley-Abbotsford with one-third of South Surrey-White Rock-Langley.

Population: 117,858 (2006 census; an increase of 6.1% since 2001)

Political History

The 2006 race had new Liberal and NDP opponents, but virtually the same result as 2004, with Conservative incumbent Mark Warawa scoring a decisive victory.

In 2004, Warawa won this riding with almost twice as many votes as his nearest opponent, Liberal Kim Richter.

Randy White came to power with the Reform party in 1993, comfortably defeating his Liberal opponent. His margins widened, and he won in 2000 by 29,256 votes. White carried his success to Abbotsford, where he won in 2004 by 19,970 votes.

Before White, this region was the turf of Tory Bob Wenman, who held office from 1974 to 1993. New Democrat Mark Rose was the area's MP from 1968 to 1974.

Langley-Abbotsford:

• 1997 - REF
• 2000 - CA

Langley:

• 2004, 2006 - CON