District created 2003 Last contested 2015 | MP Ed FastConservative First contested 2004 District webpage profile, map Elector 67,509 | |
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Census divisions Abbotsford, Upper Sumas Elementary School | ||
Abbotsford is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004.
Contents
Demographics
The riding has the lowest proportion of Catholics in Canada, with just 10.6% of the population adhering to Catholicism., as well as the highest proportion (9.8%) of "Christian, not included elsewhere" (non-Protestant, non-Catholic, non-Orthodox). 12.2% of its population claim Dutch ethnic origin, the highest such figure for any Canadian federal riding.
Geography
The district includes the City of Abbotsford, Fraser Valley H Electoral Area, and the Indian reserves of Matsqui Main 2 and Upper Sumas 6.
History
The electoral district was created in 2003. 56.1% of the riding was taken from Fraser Valley riding, and 43.9% from Langley—Abbotsford.
The 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution concluded that the electoral boundaries of Abbotsford should be adjusted, and a modified electoral district of the same name will be contested in future elections. The redefined Abbotsford loses portions of its current territory in the north and west to the new districts of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and Langley—Aldergrove. These new boundaries were legally defined in the 2013 representation order, which came into effect upon the call of the 42nd Canadian federal election, scheduled for October 2015.
The 2015 Canadian general election marked the first time a Conservative candidate was elected in Abbotsford with less than 50% of the popular vote.
Members of Parliament
This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:
Current Member of Parliament
Abbotsford's MP is Ed Fast. He is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada and was first elected in the 2006 election. He is a former Abbotsford city councillor and has worked as a lawyer, having earned a law degree at University of British Columbia. During the 40th Parliament, since January 2009, he was the chair of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and a member of the Liaison Committee.