Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge - Mission

This riding is in southwest B.C., with the Fraser River as its south boundary. The district municipalities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are here, as is a part of the Fraser Valley Regional District composed of the District Municipality of Mission, Subdivision F. Here, too, are Katzie Indian Reserve No. 1, Langley Indian Reserve No. 5 and Whonnock Indian Reserve No. 1.

Four per cent of the population of this riding are aboriginal, and 17 per cent of residents are immigrants. English is the mother tongue of 84 per cent of the population, and French of just over one per cent. Punjabi, German and Dutch lead the list of other languages spoken.

Manufacturing, construction and the service sector are the big employers. The 2006 census shows an average family income of $80,458 and an unemployment rate of 4.9 per cent.

This riding was established as Mission-Port Moody in 1976. In 1986, Mission-Coquitlam was established. The riding of Dewdney-Alouette was established in the 1996 redistribution, with the bulk of its residents being drawn from the old Mission-Coquitlam riding. In the 2004 redistribution, about nine per cent of the riding was carved away.

Population: 120,662 (2006 census; an increase of 9.1% since 2001)

Political History

Conservative MP Randy Kamp held on to the riding in 2006, winning a close race over New Democrat Mike Bocking. Kamp defeated Bocking in 2004 as well.

Grant McNally came to power in 1997 with the Reform party. In 2000, he was easily re-elected, outpolling Liberal Jatinder Sidhu by 19,464 ballots. Before McNally's first win, the seat was held by the Reform's Daphne Jennings, who in 1993 had ousted then-incumbent Joy Lanagan of the NDP. In 1988, Lanagan had ousted the Tory incumbent.

Mission-Port Moody:

• 1979, 1980 - NDP
• 1983 byelection, 1984 - PC

Mission-Coquitlam:

• 1988 - NDP
• 1993, 1997 - REF

Dewdney-Alouette:

• 2000 - CA
• 2004, 2006 - CON