West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country

Geography

The district includes the regional districts of Sunshine Coast and Powell River (excluding Lasqueti Island), the southern portion of the Squamish–Lillooet Regional District, including the municipalities of Whistler, Squamish, Pemberton; and West Vancouver, Lions Bay and Bowen Island, which are in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

Demographics

Ethnic groups: 78.8% White, 5.0% Aboriginal, 4.7% Chinese, 3.5% West Asian, 2.2% South Asian, 1.5% Filipino, 1.2% Japanese, 1.0% Korean
Languages: 79.1% English, 3.5% Persian, 3.5% Chinese, 2.5% French, 2.1% German, 1.1% Punjabi, 1.0% Korean
Religions: 42.4% Christian (13.3% Catholic, 8.6% Anglican, 6.8% United Church, 1.6% Baptist, 1.5% Lutheran, 1.1% Presbyterian, 9.5% Other), 3.3% Muslim, 1.3% Buddhist, 1.0% Jewish, 1.0% Sikh, 49.3% No religion
Median income (2010): $32,478
Average income (2010): $57,554

History

The electoral district was created as "West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast" in 1996 from parts of Capilano—Howe Sound and North Island—Powell River ridings.

In 2003, it was renamed "West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country". At 48 characters, this is the current longest riding name in Canada.

The riding or electoral district is also the first to have been represented in Parliament by a member of the Green Party, Blair Wilson. Elected as part of the Liberal party, he crossed the floor later in his career to become a member of the Green Party representing West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country. However, this came immediately before the 2008 federal election, in which he was defeated, and he never had the opportunity to sit in the House as a Green MP.

The 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution concluded that the electoral boundaries of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country should be adjusted, and a modified electoral district of the same name would be contested in future elections. The redefined West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country:

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.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:

Current Member of Parliament

Former mayor of West Vancouver Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, was elected on October 19, 2015 through her defeat of the conservative candidate John Weston. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. She attended the University of British Columbia and she studied political science. After declining not to run for a third term as mayor of West Vancouver, she attended the Beedie school of business. After receiving her executive MBA at Simon Fraser University, she went on to seek the nomination for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, she received the nomination in June 2014.

Former Members of Parliament

The first Member of Parliament to represent the riding was John Reynolds, a former sales and marketing consultant. He was first elected in the 1997 election. He was a member of the Reform Party, and its successors the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party. He served as a member on the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. Reynolds did not run in the 2006 general election.

Liberal Blair Wilson was elected in the 2006 federal election. Wilson, a chartered accountant and a former restaurant owner, was the first Liberal MP for the historically Conservative riding. He lost to former MP John Reynolds in the 2004 federal election. Wilson resigned from caucus in October 2007 after allegations of improper campaign spending and failure to mention several legal and financial troubles during three nomination vetting processes. He remained a Liberal but not in caucus. In January 2008, Wilson became an Independent. He then joined the Green Party on August 30, 2008, becoming its first MP. Running under the Green banner in the election called only days later, he was defeated by Conservative John Weston. John Weston was defeated by Pamela Goldsmith-Jones on October 19, 2015.