RIDING PROFILE: Burnaby and New West

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – The shadows of the pipeline debate loom large over Burnaby, the epicenter of the Kinder Morgan project.

The Mayor of Burnaby, Derek Corrigan, has a heavy leaning towards the NDP, with his wife Kathy Corrigan being the now former MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake.

Speaking with a city councilor, he said every member of the Burnaby Council is associated with the NDP.

Three out of the four ridings in Burnaby are held by the NDP, with Richard Lee from the Liberals the exception in Burnaby-North. So the Liberals could see some of these areas as swing ridings, even putting up former news anchor Steve Darling up to Burnaby-Lougheed.

Over in New Westminster, Mayor Jonathan Cote says the region leans to the left.

“It’s a pretty progressive community and I think in this election there is no doubt there is a lot of support for the NDP, we are also seeing locally a lot of support for the Green candidate. That’s kind of reflective of the progressive nature of New Westminster.”

Cote says there are a few issues in his city that everyone in the Lower Mainland can relate too.

“I think my big priorities are transportation and affordable housing. I think post-election those are going to be the two critical issues facing whoever forms government.”

Candidates:

Burnaby-North

Liberal: Richard Lee (incumbent)

NDP: Janet Routledge

Green: Peter Hallschmid
Burnaby-Lougheed

NDP: Katrina Chen

Liberal: Steve Darling

Green: Joe Keithley

Libertarian: Neeraj Murarka

Independant: Sylvia Gung
Burnaby Deer Lake

NDP: Anne Kang

Liberal: Karen Wang

Green: Rick McGowan

Independant: Elias Ishak
Burnaby-Edmonds

NDP: Raj Chouhan (incumbent)

Liberal: Garrison Duke

Green: Valentine Wu
New Westminster

NDP: Judy Darcy (incumbent)

Liberal: Lorraine Brett

Green: Jonina Campbell

SoCred: James Crosty

Libertarian: Rex Brocki