South Surrey - White Rock - Cloverdale

Located on the Lower Mainland and abutting the U.S. border, this riding has Mud Bay and Boundary Bay as its west boundary. It includes White Rock as well as that part of Surrey south of the Serpentine River, 160th Street, 72nd Avenue and the Fraser Highway.

The 2006 census found that 23 per cent of residents here are immigrants and two per cent are aboriginal. Nineteen per cent are older than age 65. Twenty-three per cent of those over age 25 have a university certificate or degree.

This riding's economy is made up of construction, manufacturing and the service sector. The average family income is $102,086 – the third-highest in the province – and the unemployment rate is 4.2 per cent.

Surrey-White Rock was established in 1986. The name changed to Surrey-White Rock-South Langley in 1990 and South Surrey-White Rock-Langley in 1996. It became South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale in 2004 by taking the bulk of South Surrey-White Rock-Langley and adding in about 27,000 residents of Surrey Central.

Population: 111,756 (2006 census; an increase of 12.5% since 2001)

Political History

Conservative MP Ross Hiebert won re-election in 2006, beating Liberal Jim McMurtry by more than 9,000 votes. Hiebert first won the seat in 2004, narrowly defeating Liberal Judy Higginbotham by 3,149 votes.

Val Meredith held the former South Surrey-White Rock-Langley for the previous three terms. Running on the Reform/Canadian Alliance ticket, she enjoyed progressively easier wins in each election. In 2000, she defeated Liberal Bill Brooks by 18,562 votes.

Before Meredith, Tory Benno Friesen was MP for 14 years.

South Surrey-White Rock-Langley:

• 1997 - REF
• 2000 - CA

South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale:

• 2004, 2006 - CON